On the anniversary of the death of Israels first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, IsraCast brings you Ben-Gurion's biography, two audio interviews from Canadian radio stations in the year 1961, and a transcript of highlights from the Decleration of Independence - read by him on May 14th, 1948.
Israel Tal, also known as Talik, was an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) general known for his knowledge of tank warfare and for leading the development of Israel's Merkava tank.
Meir Amit was an Israeli politician and general. He served as Director of the Mossad from 1963 to 1968 before entering politics and holding two ministerial positions.
On the anniversary of Israel's air strike that destroyed Saddam Husein's nuclear reactor near Baghdad on June 7th, 1981 and against the background of former Mossad Chief Meir Dagen's warning that Israel should not attack Iran's nuclear weapons sites today, IsraCast presents a report broadcast shortly after the Israeli preventative attack on Iraq. Analyst David Essing is of the view that many of the considerations discussed in our historic report are applicable today. Listeners are advised to simply substitute Iran for Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadenijad for Saddam Hussein, Barack Obama for Ronald Reagan and last but not least, Binyamin Netanyahu for Menahem Begin. And the questions remain: what if Saddam Husein had been allowed to acquire nuclear weapons then and what would be the situation if his modern day counterpart does decide to 'break out' and dash for the bomb? Or if Israel, as reported by foreign sources, had not bombed the secret nuclear reactor of Syrian tyrant Basher Assad who is now conducting a massacre of his own people. Moreover, would the U.S. and its NATO allies be bombing in Libya today if Col. Gadaffi had not been halted in his tracks? Listen to original background report on Israel Air Force strike against Iraq's nuclear reactor on June 7th, 1981. It was recorded and edited by Avi Yaffe in his Jerusalem broadcast studio.
Israel marks the anniversary to the unification of Jerusalem. Read about the liberation of the city and the letter sent by Prime Minister Eshkol to Jordan's King Hussein stating that Israel would take no actions against him if he ceased hostile activities.
On May 12, 1968 the Government decided to make the 28th of Iyar the symbolic holiday, Jerusalem Day, a day that symbolizes the continued historical connection of the Jewish People to Jerusalem. Thirty years later, this holiday became anchored in the law: On March 23 1998 the Knesset passed the second and third readings of the "Jerusalem Day Law", which determined that the date that Jerusalem was liberated during the 6-Day War was now a national holiday. On this day Israel marks the anniversary to the unification of Jerusalem and the liberation of the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.
The Armenian genocide refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction (genocide) of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was implemented through wholesale massacres and deportations, with the deportations consisting of forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees. The total number of resulting Armenian deaths is generally held to have been between one and one and a half million.
On May 15, 1948, day after the creation of the State of Israel, the armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon invaded the new Jewish state.
March 11, 1948 - A car filled with explosives blew up in the courtyard of the Jewish Agency building in Jerusalem. 12 people were killed, among them Arie Leib Jaffe, one of the founders of the Zionist movement.
Abdullah II bin al-Hussein is the current King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He ascended the throne on 7 February 1999 after the death of his father King Hussein. King Abdullah is a member of the Hashemite family and is reportedly a 43rd-generation direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad.
Listen to historic recording of a 1945 BBC broadcast from liberated Bergen-Belsen, a Nazi concentration camp, featuring the singing of "Hatikva" by the surviving Jewish prisoners. Allied troops liberated the camp on April 15, 1945.
Chaim Azriel Weizmann was a chemist, a Zionist leader, President of the World Zionist Organization and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on February 1, 1949, and served until 1952. Weizmann founded the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.
The Druze people reside primarily in Israel, Syria and Lebanon. It is an Arab-speaking community loyal to the state that has suffered hundreds of casualties in its defense, and whose men serve today in high-ranking and sensitive positions within the Israeli military and security forces. In Israel the majority of the Druze consider themselves a distinct ethnic group and do not identify themselves as Arab.
Crystal Night, or the Night of Broken Glass, was a pogrom in Nazi Germany on November 9–10, 1938. On a single night, 92 Jews were murdered and 25,000–30,000 were arrested and deported to concentration camps.
