2000
in
Israel

Decades:
  • 1980s
  • 1990s
  • 2000s
  • 2010s
  • 2020s
See also:

Events in the year 2000 in Israel.

Incumbents

Events

March 14: Israel formally deploys its Arrow 2 anti-ballistic missile system.

January

  • January 3–10 – Shepherdstown Summit: Israel and Syria hold peace talks in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak led the Israeli delegation and Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa led the Syrian delegation. The Peace Conference finally came to a dead end and was later on followed by failed negotiation attempts to renew it.
  • January 28 – Yes, the sole satellite television provider (DBS) in Israel, begins its broadcasting.

March

  • March 12–26 – Pope John Paul II visits Israel, and thus becomes the second pope to visit the Jewish state. During his stay, the Pope visits Yad Vashem (the Israeli national Holocaust memorial) and the Western Wall placing a letter inside it in which he prayed for forgiveness for the actions against Jews in the past.[1]
  • March 14 – Israel formally deploys its Arrow 2 anti-ballistic missile system.[2]
  • March 27 – An Israeli Air Force F-16D-30F of 109 Squadron (Israel) based at Ramat David Airbase, crashes into the Mediterranean Sea during a training flight 17 nmi (31 km) off the coastal village of Atlit in northern Israel. The pilot, Major Yonatan Begin, was a son of parliamentarian Benny Begin and grandson of former Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Neither he nor his co-pilot, Lt. Lior Harari, had notified their ground controllers of any problems.[3][4]
  • March 28 – A police investigation recommends that former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife be indicted on criminal charges of fraud, bribery, theft of state gifts and obstruction of justice.[5]

May

June

July

August

September

  • September 3 – Former leader of Israel's Shas Party Aryeh Deri starts his three-year jail sentence after his appeal is rejected.

October

  • October 1–9, 2000: Solidarity demonstrations held by Arab citizens of Israel escalate into clashes with Israeli police and Israeli Jewish citizens. Twelve Israeli Arabs and one Palestinian Arab from the Gaza Strip are shot and killed by the Israeli police.[7] One Israeli Jewish civilian was killed by a rock thought to have been thrown by an Arab citizen.
  • October 7 – 2000 Hezbollah cross-border raid: Three Israeli soldiers are abducted by Hezbollah while patrolling the Israeli administered side of the Israeli-Lebanese border[8] and Northern Israel is shelled in an attempt to ignite the Israeli-Lebanese border too, but Israelis decide on limited response.

December

  • December 10 – Prime minister Ehud Barak announces his resignation as prime minister, and states that an election for the post would be held soon.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

July

  • July 11–25 – The Camp David 2000 Summit is held which is aimed at reaching a "final status" agreement. The summit collapses after Yasser Arafat would not accept a proposal drafted by American and Israeli negotiators. Ehud Barak is prepared to offer the entire Gaza Strip, part of East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian Arab state, 73% of the West Bank (excluding eastern Jerusalem) raising to 90–94% after 10–25 years, and financial reparations for Palestinian Arab refugees for peace. Arafat turns down the offer without making a counter-offer.[9]
  • September 28 – Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visits the Temple Mount, protected by a several-hundred-strong Israeli police force. Riots by Palestinian Arabs erupt, leading to a full-fledged armed uprising (called the Al-Aqsa Intifada by sympathizers and the Oslo War by opponents).

October

Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets

The most prominent Palestinian militant acts and operations committed against Israeli targets during 2000 include:

  • November 2 – 2 Israelis are killed and 10 are wounded when a car bomb explodes near the Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, one of whom is the daughter of the MK and former housing minister Yitzhak Levy. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for the attack.[10]
  • November 20 – Kfar Darom bombing: an Israeli school bus was struck by a roadside bomb at the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom killing 2 adults and injuring several others. Hamas claimed responsibility.[11]
  • November 22 – Hadera's main street bombing: Two Israeli women are killed and 60 civilians are wounded in a car bomb attack in Hadera. Hamas claimed responsibility.[12]
  • December 22 – Mechola bombing: Palestinian suicide bomber injures 3 Israeli soldiers. Hamas claimed responsibility.[13]

Notable Israeli military operations against Palestinian militancy targets
The most prominent Israeli military counter-terrorism operations (military campaigns and military operations) carried out against Palestinian militants during 2000 include:

  • September 30 – Second Intifada: Muhammad al-Durrah incident – Ten Palestinian Arabs are killed during crossfire between Israeli forces and Palestinian Arab militia at the Netzarim junction,[14] among them the twelve-year-old boy Muhammad al-Durrah who is caught in the crossfire and is allegedly killed in the arms of his father.[15] Al-Durrah's death was filmed by a Palestinian Arab freelance cameraman and made worldwide headlines and as a result Al-Durrah became a symbol of the Palestinian Arab uprising in 2000 and of Palestinian martyrdom.[16] Whether the Israeli forces or the Palestinian Arab militia shot the boy is a matter of dispute.[17][18]
  • December 17 – Tanzim activist Samih al-Malabi, is assassinated by a mobile phone bomb near the Qalandiyya refugee camp.[19]

Notable deaths

  • February 23 – Ofra Haza (born 1957), Israeli singer.
  • August 12 – Eliahu Ben Elissar (born 1932), Polish-born Israeli diplomat and politician.
  • September 22 – Yehuda Amichai (born 1924), German-born Israeli poet and an Israeli.
  • November 12 – Leah Rabin (born 1928), German-born wife of former Prime minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin.
  • December 31 – Rabbi Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane (born 1966), American-born Israeli settler leader.

Major public holidays

See also

References

  1. "2000: Pope prays for Holocaust forgiveness". BBC News. March 26, 2000. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  2. "Story of the Arrow weapon system". Israel Missile Defense Organization. Archived from the original on September 8, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
  3. "Grandson of Begin Lost in Israeli F-16 Crash." The New York Times, March 29, 2000. Retrieved: June 13, 2008.
  4. "F-16 Crash." f-16.net. Retrieved: October 25, 2009.
  5. JoPS. Page 177. source given as New York Times, Washington Post 3/29.
  6. "2000 Israel – Sameyach". Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  7. Yair Ettinger. "Extremism isn't Growing, but Fear is". Ha'aretz. Retrieved February 20, 2006.
  8. "Israelis Held by the Hizbullah – Oct 2000 – Jan 2004". mfa.gov.il. Archived from the original on February 10, 2007. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  9. Camp David Proposals for Final Palestine-Israel Peace Settlement
  10. "Bomb kills two in Jerusalem". BBC News. November 2, 2000. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
  11. "Children hurt in fatal bus blast". The New Zealand Herald. November 21, 2000. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  12. Palestinian Authority denies involvement in bomb attack – RTÉ News
  13. "Mideast Deaths Mount as Negotiators Meet". The New York Times. December 23, 2000. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
  14. "12-year-old boy among dead in Israeli-Palestinian cross fire". CNN. October 1, 2000. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007.
  15. "B'Tselem - Statistics - Fatalities". www.btselem.org. Archived from the original on May 4, 2008.
  16. Mohammed al-Dura lives on by Gideon Levy on Haaretz
  17. Patience, Martin (November 8, 2007). "Dispute rages over al-Durrah footage". BBC News. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  18. Between the Lines: Caught in the Mohammad al JPost – Features
  19. NewsLibrary.com – newspaper archive, clipping service – newspapers and other news sources

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