February 13 –
Attacks on Israeli diplomats: An explosive device is detonated in an Israeli diplomat's car in the vicinity of the Israeli Embassy in
New Delhi. Two people were wounded in the New Delhi attack. In addition, explosives are discovered near the Israeli Embassy building in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and the device is neutralized safely. Israel has accused Iran of being behind the attacks.[4]
May 8 – Only a few hours before the
Knesset was expected to approve its own dissolution and set September 4, 2012 as the date for the next elections, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu reached an agreement with the Head of Opposition
Shaul Mofaz for
Kadima to join the current government, thus canceling the early election supposed to be held in September.[7]
August 1 – The
Tal Law, which granted a sweeping exemption from military service to majority of the
Israeli ultra-Orthodox population in Israel, expires. As a result, Defense Minister
Ehud Barak orders the
Israeli Defense Forces to prepare for a universal draft of ultra-Orthodox Jewish males in 30 days.[14]
August 5 –
August 2012 Egypt-Israel border attack: Heavily armed gunmen assault an Egyptian checkpoint on the Egypt-Israeli border, killing 16 police officers. They commandeer two armored vehicles, one of which is then destroyed by the
Israeli Air Force.[15]
September 21 –
September 2012 Egypt-Israel border attack: Three Egyptian heavily armed militants, dressed as civilians, wearing explosive belts, and carrying rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, approached the Egypt-Israel border at an area where the
separation barrier remained incomplete, and opened fire on a group of soldiers from the Israeli Artillery Corps. In the ensuing gunfight, the three militants and one Israeli soldier were killed.[16]
October 6 – Israeli Air Force shot down a small
UAV as it flew over northern
Negev.[17]Hezbollah confirmed it sent drone.[18]
October 21 – United States and Israel began their biggest joint air and missile defense exercise, known as
Austere Challenge 12, involving around 3,500 U.S. troops in the region along with 1,000 IDF personnel.[20] Germany and Britain also participated.[21]
October 23 – In what was widely believed to be a long-range attack by the Israeli Air Force, an arms factory in
Khartoum, Sudan, that was alleged to have participated in arms-smuggling to
Hamas,
exploded. The Israeli government refused to either confirm or deny its involvement.[22][23]
October 25 – Prime Minister and
Likud chairman
Benjamin Netanyahu and the Foreign Minister and
Yisrael Beiteinu chairman
Avigdor Lieberman announced the unification of their two parties, which would run as a single bloc for the
upcoming elections. The joint party would be called "
Likud Beiteinu" ("The Likud Is Our Home") and Netanyahu will be number 1 on the list, followed by Liberman who will be number 2 on the list.[24][25]
November 11 – a 120 mm mortar shell exploded near an Israeli post in the
Golan Heights. As a result, the
Israel Defense Forces fired an anti-tank missile at the source of the bombardment in Syria.[26][27]
November 12 – A second
mortar shell from
Syria has been fired at an Israeli military outpost in the
Golan Heights. The
Israel Defense Forces have responded with tank fire at the source of the bombardment in Syria, scoring several direct hits on artillery units belonging to the
Syrian Army.[28]
November 26 –
Ehud Barak announces that he will retire from politics after the next election in January 2013.[29]
December 14 –
Avigdor Lieberman resigns as
Foreign Affairs Minister and as
Deputy Prime Minister following an
indictment for
fraud.[30] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes over the post of Foreign Minister, and announces that the Foreign Ministry will be held in reserve for Lieberman pending the outcome of his trial, with Lieberman allowed to resume his position as Foreign Minister if acquitted.[31]
March 15 – A teenage Palestinian commits a stabbing attack on the
Jerusalem Light Rail within
Pisgat Ze’ev in Jerusalem, seriously wounding a 19-year-old female soldier before fleeing. The attacker was captured several hours later at the
Kalandia crossing north of Jerusalem while trying to flee back to Palestinian Authority-controlled territories.[38]
June 1 – An Israeli soldier was killed in an exchange of fire with a Palestinian militant who was trying to infiltrate into Israel near the southern Gaza Strip.[40]
June 6 – Hours after a bill to legalize settlement outposts is rejected, Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu orders the construction of 300 new homes at the Jewish settlement of
Beit El in the
West Bank.[41]
June 7 – An additional 550 settler homes are announced by Israeli construction minister
Ariel Attias in addition to the 300 new settler homes ordered yesterday by the land's prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu at the Jewish settlement of
Beit El in the
West Bank.[42]
June –
Israeli transfer of Palestinian militant bodies: Israel hands over the bodies of 91 Palestinian suicide bombers and other militants as part of a goodwill gesture to PA chairman
Mahmoud Abbas to help revive the peace talks and reinstate direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.[43]
June 18 – A militant squad kill an Israeli construction worker and wound two of his colleagues in an attack carried out on the border between
Israel and
Egypt.
November 15 –
Operation Pillar of Defense: Two rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip at
Tel Aviv, with one landing in the sea and the other hitting an uninhabited area in the city's suburbs.
Iranian backed
Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the incident, which was the first attack against the city since the 1991
Gulf War.[46]
November 16 –
Operation Pillar of Defense: Palestinian militants fired a rocket aimed at Jerusalem setting off air raid sirens in the city.[47]
^הרקדנית ירדנה כהן הלכה לעולמה [Dancer Jordana Cohen dies] (in Hebrew). City Mouse. January 23, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
^Jonathan Lis (February 2, 2012).
מת פרקליט המדינה לשעבר יונה בלטמן [Former state prosecutor Yona Blatman dies] (in Hebrew). Retrieved October 21, 2014.
February 13 –
Attacks on Israeli diplomats: An explosive device is detonated in an Israeli diplomat's car in the vicinity of the Israeli Embassy in
New Delhi. Two people were wounded in the New Delhi attack. In addition, explosives are discovered near the Israeli Embassy building in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and the device is neutralized safely. Israel has accused Iran of being behind the attacks.[4]
May 8 – Only a few hours before the
Knesset was expected to approve its own dissolution and set September 4, 2012 as the date for the next elections, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu reached an agreement with the Head of Opposition
Shaul Mofaz for
Kadima to join the current government, thus canceling the early election supposed to be held in September.[7]
August 1 – The
Tal Law, which granted a sweeping exemption from military service to majority of the
Israeli ultra-Orthodox population in Israel, expires. As a result, Defense Minister
Ehud Barak orders the
Israeli Defense Forces to prepare for a universal draft of ultra-Orthodox Jewish males in 30 days.[14]
August 5 –
August 2012 Egypt-Israel border attack: Heavily armed gunmen assault an Egyptian checkpoint on the Egypt-Israeli border, killing 16 police officers. They commandeer two armored vehicles, one of which is then destroyed by the
Israeli Air Force.[15]
September 21 –
September 2012 Egypt-Israel border attack: Three Egyptian heavily armed militants, dressed as civilians, wearing explosive belts, and carrying rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, approached the Egypt-Israel border at an area where the
separation barrier remained incomplete, and opened fire on a group of soldiers from the Israeli Artillery Corps. In the ensuing gunfight, the three militants and one Israeli soldier were killed.[16]
October 6 – Israeli Air Force shot down a small
UAV as it flew over northern
Negev.[17]Hezbollah confirmed it sent drone.[18]
October 21 – United States and Israel began their biggest joint air and missile defense exercise, known as
Austere Challenge 12, involving around 3,500 U.S. troops in the region along with 1,000 IDF personnel.[20] Germany and Britain also participated.[21]
October 23 – In what was widely believed to be a long-range attack by the Israeli Air Force, an arms factory in
Khartoum, Sudan, that was alleged to have participated in arms-smuggling to
Hamas,
exploded. The Israeli government refused to either confirm or deny its involvement.[22][23]
October 25 – Prime Minister and
Likud chairman
Benjamin Netanyahu and the Foreign Minister and
Yisrael Beiteinu chairman
Avigdor Lieberman announced the unification of their two parties, which would run as a single bloc for the
upcoming elections. The joint party would be called "
Likud Beiteinu" ("The Likud Is Our Home") and Netanyahu will be number 1 on the list, followed by Liberman who will be number 2 on the list.[24][25]
November 11 – a 120 mm mortar shell exploded near an Israeli post in the
Golan Heights. As a result, the
Israel Defense Forces fired an anti-tank missile at the source of the bombardment in Syria.[26][27]
November 12 – A second
mortar shell from
Syria has been fired at an Israeli military outpost in the
Golan Heights. The
Israel Defense Forces have responded with tank fire at the source of the bombardment in Syria, scoring several direct hits on artillery units belonging to the
Syrian Army.[28]
November 26 –
Ehud Barak announces that he will retire from politics after the next election in January 2013.[29]
December 14 –
Avigdor Lieberman resigns as
Foreign Affairs Minister and as
Deputy Prime Minister following an
indictment for
fraud.[30] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes over the post of Foreign Minister, and announces that the Foreign Ministry will be held in reserve for Lieberman pending the outcome of his trial, with Lieberman allowed to resume his position as Foreign Minister if acquitted.[31]
March 15 – A teenage Palestinian commits a stabbing attack on the
Jerusalem Light Rail within
Pisgat Ze’ev in Jerusalem, seriously wounding a 19-year-old female soldier before fleeing. The attacker was captured several hours later at the
Kalandia crossing north of Jerusalem while trying to flee back to Palestinian Authority-controlled territories.[38]
June 1 – An Israeli soldier was killed in an exchange of fire with a Palestinian militant who was trying to infiltrate into Israel near the southern Gaza Strip.[40]
June 6 – Hours after a bill to legalize settlement outposts is rejected, Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu orders the construction of 300 new homes at the Jewish settlement of
Beit El in the
West Bank.[41]
June 7 – An additional 550 settler homes are announced by Israeli construction minister
Ariel Attias in addition to the 300 new settler homes ordered yesterday by the land's prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu at the Jewish settlement of
Beit El in the
West Bank.[42]
June –
Israeli transfer of Palestinian militant bodies: Israel hands over the bodies of 91 Palestinian suicide bombers and other militants as part of a goodwill gesture to PA chairman
Mahmoud Abbas to help revive the peace talks and reinstate direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.[43]
June 18 – A militant squad kill an Israeli construction worker and wound two of his colleagues in an attack carried out on the border between
Israel and
Egypt.
November 15 –
Operation Pillar of Defense: Two rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip at
Tel Aviv, with one landing in the sea and the other hitting an uninhabited area in the city's suburbs.
Iranian backed
Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the incident, which was the first attack against the city since the 1991
Gulf War.[46]
November 16 –
Operation Pillar of Defense: Palestinian militants fired a rocket aimed at Jerusalem setting off air raid sirens in the city.[47]
^הרקדנית ירדנה כהן הלכה לעולמה [Dancer Jordana Cohen dies] (in Hebrew). City Mouse. January 23, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
^Jonathan Lis (February 2, 2012).
מת פרקליט המדינה לשעבר יונה בלטמן [Former state prosecutor Yona Blatman dies] (in Hebrew). Retrieved October 21, 2014.