2019 in Israel

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See also:	History of Israel Timeline of Israel history List of years in Israel

The following lists events in the year 2019 in Israel.

Incumbents

• President – Reuven Rivlin
• Prime Minister – Benjamin Netanyahu
• President of the Supreme Court – Esther Hayut
• Chief of the General Staff – Aviv Kohavi
• Government of Israel – 34th government of Israel

Events

December: Protesters marched against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

January

• January 9 – Former Israeli minister Gonen Segev pleads guilty to spying for Iran, in exchange for an 11-year prison sentence.^[1]
• January 24 – 2019 Judo Grand Prix Tel Aviv began

February

• February 13 – Venezuelan disputed interim President Juan Guaidó states that he is working to restore ties with Israel, which were broken by Hugo Chávez's anti-Israeli policy, while also weighing whether to relocate the nation's embassy into Jerusalem.^[2]
• February 17 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appoints intelligence minister Israel Katz to take over the foreign minister portfolio. Netanyahu retains his defence minister and health minister roles. Israel's parliamentary elections are scheduled for 9 April 2019.^[3][4]
• February 18 – A summit between Israel and the Visegrád Group (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) is cancelled following Poland's reaction and withdrawal as a result of Israeli officials' statements on the Holocaust alleging Polish involvement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will hold bilateral talks with the three prime ministers attending.^[5]
• February 21 – Retired IDF Chief Benny Gantz and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid agree to combine their prime ministerial campaigns in the April 9 Knesset election against incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu.^[6]
• February 26 – A Jewish Israeli teen is convicted of membership of a terror organisation, arson, and racially aggravated assault. He is the second Jewish person convicted of terror group membership ever in Israel in connection to crimes against Palestinians. His conviction was announced today, but occurred last week in secrecy.^[7]
• February 27 –
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel will "continue to take action against Iran in Syria".^[8]
  • Ukraine withdraws from this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, Israel, after Ukrainian entrant Maruv said she refused to be used as a "political tool" after being asked to sign a contract saying she wouldn't hold any concerts in Russia in the lead up to the event.^[9]
  • Shin Bet arrest lawyer Tarek Barghout, an attorney who has represented "terror" suspects, and a Palestinian man named Zakaria Zubeidi for what it calls "their involvement in serious and current terrorist activities."^[10]
• February 28 – The Attorney General of Israel Avichai Mandelblit says that after more than two years of investigations he has decided to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.^[11]

March

• March 10 – Two Israelis killed in Addis Ababa-departed, en-route to Nairobi, Kenya Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash in Bishoftu.^[12]
• March 11 – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham visits the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, saying he will start an effort to recognize the Golan as part of the State of Israel.^[13]
• March 14 – Two rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip at Tel Aviv, Israel; neither rocket was intercepted by the IDF's Iron Dome system.^[14]
• March 15 – 2019 Tel Aviv rocket strike
  • In response to a possible accidental launching of two rockets from the Gaza Strip towards Tel Aviv the day before, Israel launches hundreds of counter strikes directed at the town of Khan Yunis.^[14][15]
• March 22 –
  • U.S. President Donald Trump signs Proclamation on Recognizing the Golan Heights as Part of the State of Israel.^[16][17]
  • Syria has not publicly responded to President Trump's decision, with Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the Arab League, declaring this action irrelevant and illegal.^[18][19]
• March 24 – In Washington, D.C., the leaders of Romania and Honduras announce they will recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, following the lead of the United States.^[20]
• March 25 –
  • Seven people are moderately injured after a rocket attack destroys a home in Mishmeret, Israel. The Israel Defense Forces claim that Hamas is responsible for any attack from Gaza.^[21]
  • As a result, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cuts his four-day trip to the United States short after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.^[22][23]
  • In retaliation Israeli Air Force jets strike multiple targets in the Gaza Strip, including the office of senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh, and Hamas' military intelligence headquarters in Gaza City.^[24][25]
  • U.S. President Donald Trump signs a proclamation formally recognising the disputed Golan Heights as sovereign Israeli territory.^[26]
  • Syria's Foreign Affairs Ministry condemns Trump's move as a "flagrant violation of the sovereignty of Syria".^[27]
• March 26 – A senior Hamas official claims that Iranian leaders ordered the March 25, 2019 rocket attack on Mishmeret, injuring seven Israelis, which was carried out by the IJMP and funded by Iran, claiming that the goal was to jeopardize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chances of getting reelected in the April 9 elections.^[28][29]
• March 30 –
  • Israel Cleantech Ventures' Gro Intelligence reports that at least 400,000 hectares (1 million acres) of U.S. farmland were flooded from the early March blizzard storm that affected nine major grain-producing states.^[30]
  • Commemorating the one year anniversary of the Gaza border protests, tens of thousands of Palestinians gather on the border to commemorate the weekly gatherings, with Israeli Border Patrol killing four Palestinian protesters and injuring more than 300.^[31][32]
• March 31 – During the 30th Arab League summit held in Tunisia, leaders condemn the United States' claim that the Golan Heights belong to Israel, and stated the establishment of a Palestinian state is essential for stability.^[33][34][35]

April

• April 9 – April 2019 Israeli legislative election^[36]
• April 11 – Israeli spacecraft Beresheet crashes on the moon.^[37]

May

• 3–6 May – May 2019 Gaza–Israel clashes^[38]
• 14–18 May – The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 is held at the Expo Tel Aviv in Israel.
  • 18 May – Kobi Marimi represents Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Home".^[39]

July

• 2–3 July – Ethiopian Jews protest in Israel

September

• September 17 – September 2019 Israeli legislative election

November

• 12–14 November – November 2019 Gaza–Israel clashes^[40]

December

• 12 December – Israel will need to hold its third general election in less than a year. This is totally unprecedented in Israel's history because of the apparent inability of any of the major parties to be able to form a governing coalition that would be decisive under the laws of Israel's parliamentary system.^[41]
• 20 December – International Criminal Court investigation in Palestine announced by ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to investigate alleged breaches by both sides in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.^[42]
• 31 December – Israel started extraction from the Leviathan gas field.^[43]

Deaths

Moshe Arens

Nechama Rivlin

• 7 January – Moshe Arens (b. 1925), aeronautical engineer, diplomat and politician.^[44]
• 25 January – Meshulam Riklis (b.1923), Turkish-born Israeli businessman.^[45]
• 1 February – Yosef Sorinov (b. 1946), footballer.
• 6 February – Yechiel Eckstein (b. 1951), Israeli-American rabbi.^[46]
• 14 February – Michael Nudelman (b. 1938), politician.
• 17 February – Ami Maayani (b. 1936), composer.
• 26 February – Yizhak Sadai ^[de] (b. 1935), composer.
• 11 March – Yona Atari (b. 1933), singer and actress.
• 11 March – Danny Ben-Israel (b. 1944), musician.
• 23 March – Rafi Eitan (b. 1926), spy and politician.^[47]
• 2 May – Micha Lindenstrauss (b. 1937), judge and State Comptroller.
• 4 June – Nechama Rivlin (b. 1945), First Lady of Israel.^[48]
• 7 July – Ora Namir (b. 1930), politician and diplomat.
• 18 October – Meir Shamgar (b. 1925), jurist and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
• 8 December – Herbert Pundik (b. 1927), Danish-Israeli journalist and author.^[49]
• 18 December – Geulah Cohen (b. 1925), politician and activist.

See also

• 2018–2022 Israeli political crisis
• Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2019

References

1. "Israeli ex-minister pleads guilty to spying for Iran". Reuters. 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
2. "Venezuela's Guaido says he's working to restore ties with Israel". Al Jazeera. 2019-01-13. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
3. "Netanyahu gives up role as Israel's foreign minister". Reuters. 2019-01-17. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
4. "Yisrael Katz becomes Israeli foreign minister as Benjamin Netanyahu contracts his ministerial portfolio". The Jewish Chronicle. 2019-01-17. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
5. "Israel summit scrapped in 'racism' row with Poland". BBC News. 2019-01-18. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
6. "Netanyahu challengers Gantz and Lapid join forces". BBC News. 2019-01-21. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
7. "Settler teen convicted of terror offenses for attacks on Palestinians". The Times of Israel. 2019-01-26. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
8. "Netanyahu in Moscow tells Putin Israel will continue hitting Iran in Syria". The Times of Israel. 2019-01-27. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
9. "Ukraine pulls out of Eurovision Song Contest 2019". BBC News. 2019-01-27. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
10. Gross, Judah Ari (2019-01-27). "Israel arrests former terror leader, citing 'serious' current activities". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
11. "Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu faces corruption charges". Sky News. 2019-01-28. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
12. "Ethiopian Airlines: 'No survivors' on crashed Boeing 737". BBC News. 2019-02-11. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
13. "State Department: US policy on Golan has not changed". The Times of Israel. 2019-02-11. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
14. "Israel Strikes After Rockets Are Fired From Gaza to Tel Aviv". The New York Times. 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
15. "Israeli military announces strikes on Gaza sites after rocket attack on Tel Aviv". Associated Press. 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
16. Trump, Donald J. (March 25, 2019). "Proclamation on Recognizing the Golan Heights as Part of the State of Israel". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved March 25, 2019 – via National Archives.
17. Carey, Andrew; Liebermann, Oren; Hodge, Nathan; Diamond, Jeremy; Hansler, Jennifer (2019-03-22). "Trump says it's time for US to recognize 'Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights'". CNN. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
18. "Syria silent amid muted international criticism of Trump's Golan recognition". The Times of Israel. 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
19. Salami, Daniel (2019-02-14). "Arab League calls US decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights 'illegal'". Ynet. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
20. "Middle East Romania, Honduras recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital". Fox News. 2019-02-24. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
21. "Seven injured as Gaza rocket hits home in central Israel". BBC News. 2019-02-25. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
22. Al-Mughrabi, Nidal; Heller, Jeffrey (2019-02-25). "Israel, Hamas clash over Gaza, then truce reached". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
23. "Israeli jets hit targets in Gaza in response to rocket fire that injures 7 near Tel Aviv". The Washington Post. 2019-02-25. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
24. "Israel air strike targets office of Hamas leader in Gaza: Hamas radio". Reuters. 2019-02-25. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
25. "Israeli military strikes Hamas targets in Gaza". Al Jazeera. 2019-02-25. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
26. "Trump formally recognises Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights". Al Jazeera. 2019-02-25. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
27. Yinglun, Shi (2019-02-25). "Syria condemns Trump's recognition of Israeli sovereignty over disputed Golan Heights". Xinhuanet. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
28. "Iran ordered rocket attack on central Israel". The Jerusalem Post. 2019-02-26. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
29. Rosenberg, David (2019-02-26). "Iran ordered rocket attack, aimed to hurt Netanyahu in election". Israel National News. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
30. Huffstutter, Patricia J.; Pamuk, Humeyra (2019-03-30). "More than 1 million acres of U.S. cropland ravaged by floods". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
31. "Thousands mark 'Great Return' anniversary". BBC News. 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
32. "'Four Palestinians dead' in protests, Gaza's health ministry says". Sky News. 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
33. Laessing, Ulf (2019-04-01). "Arab leaders to seek U.N. Security Council resolution on Golan". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
34. "Arab leaders call for Palestinian state, condemn US's Golan move". Al Jazeera. 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
35. "Arab Leaders Meet in Tunisia With Eye On Trump's Golan Move". The Washington Post. 2019-03-31. Archived from the original on 2019-03-31.
36. Wootliff, Raoul (December 24, 2018). "Early elections called for April 9 as coalition agrees to dissolve Knesset". The Times of Israel. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
37. "Israel's Beresheet spacecraft crashes on Moon". BBC News. 2019-04-11. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
38. "Palestinians report Gaza truce with Israel as violence ebbs". CNBC. May 6, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
39. "Israel's Eurovision entry celebrates performance, despite disappointing finish". The Times of Israel. 2019-05-19.
40. "Israel kills top Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant in Gaza". BBC News. November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
41. "Israel will hold unprecedented third election in a year". BBC News. 2019-12-11.
42. Ahren, Raphael (23 December 2019). "The Hague vs. Israel: Everything you need to know about the ICC Palestine probe". Times of Israel. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
43. "Israel gets first gas from Leviathan with exports to follow". Reuters. 2019-12-31.
44. Aderet, Ofer (January 7, 2019). "Moshe Arens, Former Israeli Defense Minister and Liberal Likud Veteran, Dies at 93". Haaretz.
45. Haring, Bruce (26 January 2019). "Meshulam Riklis Dies: Pia Zadora Husband, Billionaire Involved In Golden Globes Scandal Was 95". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 26, 2019.
46. Alon, Amir (2019-02-06). "Interfaith bridge builder Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein dies at 67". Ynetnews.
47. "Rafi Eitan, ex-minister and legendary spy who captured Eichmann, dies aged 92". The Times of Israel. March 23, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
48. Aderet, Ofer (June 4, 2019). "Nechama Rivlin, Wife of Israeli President, Dies at 73". Haaretz.
49. "Tidligere Politiken-chefredaktør Herbert Pundik er død" [Former Politiken editor-in-chief Herbert Pundik has died]. DR (in Danish). 2019-12-08.