1933
Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
1936–39
Anti-Jewish riots instigated by Arab militants.
1939
Jewish immigration severely limited by British white paper.
1939–45
World War II.
1941
Reza Khan is forced to abdicate as Shah of Iran and is succeeded by his son.
1945
League of Arab States formed in Cairo.
1947
United Nations proposes the establishment of Arab and Jewish states in Palestine.
May 14, 1947
End of British mandate; declaration of independence of the state of Israel.
May 15, 1947
Israel invaded by five Arab states.
May 1948–July 1949
Israeli War of Independence.
1948–52
Mass immigration to Israel from Europe and Arab countries.
1949
Armistice agreements signed with Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon.
1949
Jerusalem divided under Israeli and Jordanian rule.
1949
First Knesset (Israeli parliament) elected.
1950
The West Bank unites with Jordan.
1951
King Abdullah of Jordan is assassinated at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
1953
King Hussein officially assumes the throne in Jordan.
1953
CIA helps engineer coup that restores Shah to power in Iran.
1953–54
Egyptian Republic proclaimed; Nasser takes over.
1953–55
Johnston Plan.
1955
Baghdad Pact signed.
1955–56
United States offers to build Aswan Dam in Egypt; then revokes offer.
1956
Sinai Campaign.
1957
France helps Israel create nuclear research program in Dimona.
1958
United Arabic Republic established.
1958
U.S. troops sent to Lebanon.
1962–67
Pro-Nasser forces seize control after death of ruler in Yemen, provoking war with competing factions backed by Egyptian and Saudi forces.
1963
David Ben-Gurion resigns as Israeli prime minister and retires. He is replaced by Levi Eshkol.
1963
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is established.
1966
The Coca-Cola Company announces it will begin producing soft drinks in Israel in defiance of the Arab boycott.
June 1967
The Six-Day War reunites Jerusalem under Israeli control; UN Security Council adopts Resolution 242.
1968–70
Egypt’s War of Attrition against Israel.
1970
King Hussein’s troops expel rebellious Palestinians backed by Syria in Black September.
1971
Hafez Assad seizes power in Syria.
1972
Eleven Israeli athletes are murdered at the Munich Olympic Games.
1973
The Yom Kippur/Ramadan War (October).
1974
Golda Meir’s government resigns, and Yitzhak Rabin becomes prime minister of Israel.
1976
Israel mounts dramatic rescue of hostages taken to Entebbe, Uganda.
1976
Syrian troops seize control of most of Lebanon to stop civil war there.
1977
The United States adopts anti-boycott legislation.
1977
Likud forms government after Knesset elections, end of 30 years of Labor rule.
1977
Visit of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem.
1978
Camp David Accords include framework for comprehensive peace in the Middle East and proposal for Palestinian self-government.
1979
A revolution in Iran forces the Shah to flee; an Islamic Republic is created under Ayatollah Khomeini. Americans are taken hostage and held for 444 days.
1979
Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty signed.
1980–88
Iran invades Iraq and the two countries fight an inconclusive war.
1981
The United States sells AWACS radar planes to Saudi Arabia after a divisive battle with the pro-Israel lobby.
1981
Gulf Cooperation Council formed.
1981
Israel air force destroys Iraqi nuclear reactor just before it is to become operative.
1981
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is assassinated. Hosni Mubarak succeeds him.
1982
Israel’s three-stage withdrawal from Sinai completed.
1982
Operation Peace for Galilee removes the Palestine Liberation Organization from Lebanon.
1983
Suicide bomber blows up U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon, killing 241.
1983
Menachem Begin abruptly resigns as Israel’s prime minister.
1984
Operation Moses, immigration of Jews from Ethiopia.
1987
Widespread violence (the intifada) starts in Israeli-administered areas.
1988
The United States recognizes the PLO.
1989
Start of mass immigration of Jews from former Soviet Union.
1990
Iraq invades Kuwait.
1991
U.S.–led coalition forces attack Iraq and liberate Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War.
1991
Israel attacked by Iraqi Scud missiles during the Gulf War.
1991
Middle East peace conference convenes in Madrid.
1991
Operation Solomon, airlift of Jews from Ethiopia.
1992
No-fly zone established over northern Iraq.
1993
Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements for the Palestinians signed by Israel and PLO, as representative of the Palestinian people.
1993
Bombing by Muslim extremists rocks World Trade Center in New York.
1994
Implementation of Palestinian self-government in Gaza Strip and Jericho area.
1994
Morocco and Tunisia interest offices set up in Israel.
1994
Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty signed.
1994
Rabin, Peres, Arafat awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
1995
Broadened Palestinian self-government implemented in West Bank and Gaza Strip; Palestinian Council elected.
1995
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin assassinated at peace rally.
1995
Shimon Peres becomes prime minister.
1996
Operation Grapes of Wrath, retaliation for Hizbollah terrorists’ attacks on northern Israel.
1996
Israel trade representation offices set up in Oman and Qatar.
1996
Benjamin Netanyahu wins the first direct election for Israeli prime minister.
1997
Israel redeploys troops in Hebron.
1998
Israel celebrates its fiftieth anniversary.
1998
Israel agrees to additional 13 percent withdrawal from West Bank in exchange for Palestinian concessions in the Wye Plantation talks.
1998
The United States and Great Britain attack Iraq in Operation Desert Fox.
1999
King Hussein dies and is succeeded by his son Abdullah.
1999
Ehud Barak elected prime minister of Israel.
2000
Israel withdraws unilaterally from Lebanon.
2000
Syrian President Hafez Assad dies and is succeeded by his son Bashar.
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2000
Camp David Summit.
2000
Ariel Sharon visits Temple Mount.
2000
“Al-Aqsa Intifada.”
2000
Sharm El-Sheikh Summit.
2000
Prime Minister Barak resigns.
2001
Peace talks are held at Egyptian town of Taba.
2001
Ariel Sharon elected prime minister of Israel.
2001
Mitchell Commission issues its report.
2001
U.S. CIA director Tenet negotiates cease-fire.
2001
Terrorists attack World Trade Center and Pentagon.
2001
Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi is assassinated by Palestinian terrorists.
2001
President Bush lays out vision of a Palestinian state at the United Nations.
2001
U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni tries to mediate a cease-fire.
2001
Israeli cabinet declares Arafat “no longer relevant” after a series of horrific terrorist attacks.
2002
Israel captures ship laden with 50 tons of weapons from Iran bound for the Palestinian Authority.
2002
Series of suicide bombings provokes Israeli “Operation Defensive Shield.”
2002
United States demands Israeli withdrawal from West Bank and Israel complies after sieges of Arafat compound in Ramallah and Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity.
2002
Renewed suicide bombings prompt new Israeli policy of seizing Palestinian Authority territory until violence ceases.
2002
President Bush calls for Arafat to be replaced and lays out plan for a provisional Palestinian state after PA ends violence and reforms its institutions.
2003
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is appointed Palestinian prime minister, but later resigns in frustration. He’s replaced by Ahmed Qureia (Abu Alaa).
2003
U.S.–led war against Iraq.
2003
The road map is officially delivered to Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas.
2003
Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Act enacted.
2003
Sharon announces disengagement plan.
2004
Israel kills Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.
2004
United States imposes sanctions on Syria.
2004
Marwan Barghouti convicted of murder for his involvement in three terrorist attacks in Israel that killed five people.
2004
Yasser Arafat dies in Paris.
2005
Palestinian Authority election; Mahmoud Abbas chosen as president.
2005
Iraq holds first free election in a half century.
2005
Sharon and Abbas declare an end to violence at Sharm El-Sheikh Summit.
2005
Knesset approves the Disengagement Implementation Law to compensate Jews who will be evacuated as a result of the disengagement plan.
Appendix B
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Atkinson, Rick. Crusade. N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1993.
Aumann, Moshe. Land Ownership in Palestine 1880–1948. Jerusalem: Academic Committee on the Middle East, 1976.
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Avneri, Arieh. The Claim of Dispossession. N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1984.
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict Page 53