The failed attempt on Ambassador Shlomo Argov’s life led to one of the most complicated and difficult episodes in Israel’s history
Mapping 50 Years of Zionist Pioneering
The desert was pushed back, the swamps were dried up and water reached every corner of the land – this historic map celebrated 50 years of the Zionist enterprise…
The Chaotic Origins of Israel’s International Airport
Confusion and combat preceded the grand opening of Israel’s main airport, some six months after the young state’s founding
“Jews Shooting Jews”: A Look Back at the Days of the Altalena Affair
The Altalena affair remains one of the most controversial episodes in the history of the State of Israel | The Altalena’s sinking was the climax of a dramatic internal crisis that lasted for three tense days | An in-depth examination of the sequence of events offers a more complex picture | Featuring new photos of the curfew enforced in Tel Aviv
When Tintin Was Abducted by the Irgun in Haifa
Why was Mandatory Palestine changed to the imaginary “Emirate of Khemed” in “Land of Black Gold”, the 15th volume in the comic series, “The Adventures of Tintin”?
His Way: Frank Sinatra in the Service of Israel
How Ol’ Blue Eyes managed to trick the FBI, make a special delivery down at the docks and help the Jewish state-in-the-making…
How France Nearly Snatched Half of Jerusalem From Britain Over Lunch
If not for a crucial lunchtime intervention by General Edmund Allenby, who apparently had his mouth full, half of Jerusalem could have come under French control. In fact, had Allenby remained silent, there might never have been a British Mandate in Palestine, not to mention a State of Israel…
Heinrich Himmler’s Books at the National Library of Israel
Even a mass murderer can have a personal library. Some of the books from Heinrich Himmler’s private collection, containing his signature, can be found today at the National Library of Israel. How did they get here?
Jews in Keffiyehs? – The Headdress That Became a Symbol
Nowadays, people identify the keffiyeh as the unequivocal symbol of the Palestinian national movement. However, going back a few decades, we find documentation of senior members of the Zionist movement wearing the traditional headdress as well as members of the Palmach and even soldiers in the IDF. What changed along the way?
Israel, 1948: Vidal Sassoon in Combat
Not long before becoming the world’s most famous hairstylist and building a business empire, Sassoon fought for Israeli independence. He lost friends, gained confidence, went weeks without a shower, and literally never learned the Hebrew word for ‘retreat’…
