Israel Modern History (1948-2024). Every Year.

HISTORY OF ISRAEL

Israel is in a region known historically as Canaan, Palestine, and the Holy Land. In antiquity, it was home to Canaanite city-states, then Israelite and Judahite kingdoms, and is referred to as the Land of Israel in Jewish tradition. Situated at a continental crossroad, the region was then ruled by various empires.

In the early 20th century, the modern territory of Israel was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, but after WWI came under British control. In 1922, the League of Nations granted Britain the Mandate for Palestine.

On 14 May 1948, the day before the expiration of the British Mandate, David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, declared the establishment of a Jewish state.

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PRIME MINISTERS OF ISRAEL:

David Ben-Gurion (1948–1953)
Moshe Sharett (1953–1955)
David Ben-Gurion (1955–1963)
Levi Eshkol (1963–1969)
Golda Meir (1969–1974)
Yitzhak Rabin (1974–1977)
Menachem Begin (1977–1983)
Yitzḥak Shamir (1983–1984)
Shimon Peres (1984–1986)
Yitzḥak Shamir (1986–1992)
Yitzhak Rabin (1992–1995)
Shimon Peres (1995–1996)
Benjamin Netanyahu (1996–1999)
Ehud Barak (1999–2001)
Ariel Sharon (2001–2006)
Ehud Olmert (2006–2009)
Benjamin Netanyahu (2009–2021)
Naftali Bennett (2021–2022)
Yair Lapid (2022)
Benjamin Netanyahu (since 2022)