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Israel's History:
1950
1950:
by Liat Tzoubari, 2002-2003 ECRUSY Israel Affairs VP
- International: Ben-Leumi
- Great Britain recognized the State of Israel.
- The port of Eilat is opened.
- Law: Chok VeMishpat
- The "Nazis and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law" is passed by the Knesset. The
law outlines the offenses any Nazis or Nazi collaborators can be tried and sentenced for.
- Land: Adamah
- The West Bank unites with Jordan.
- The Government: HaMemshalah
- The Knesset and most government ministries move from Tel Aviv to King George Street
in Jerusalem; the Knesset convenes in temporary quarters until the completion of its
permanent home in 1966.
- Immigration: Aliyah
- The Law of Return, granting Jews the right to come to Israel as olim (immigrants)
and become citizens, is passed by the Knesset.
The Proclamation of the Establishment of the State of Israel stated: "The State of
Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and the ingathering of the exiles..." This
was followed in 1950 by the Law of Return, which granted every Jew the automatic right
to immigrate to Israel and become a citizen of the state. With the gates wide open
after statehood was declared, a wave of mass immigration brought 687,000 Jews to
Israel's shores. By 1951, the number of immigrants more than doubled the Jewish population
of the country in 1948. The immigrants included survivors of the Holocaust from displaced
persons' camps in Germany, Austria, and Italy; a majority of the Jewish communities of
Bulgaria and Poland and one-third of the Jews of Romania; and nearly all of the Jewish
communities of Libya, Yemen, and Iraq.
- Operations "Ezra" and "Nehemiah" Begin
- From 1950-1952, Operations "Ezra" and "Nehemiah" brought almost all the Iraqi Jews
to Israel, first by way of Cyprus, then directly to Israel. More than 110,000 people
made aliyah. By 1967 only 3,000 Jews remained in Iraq. Today less than 60 Jews remain,
all of whom live in Baghdad.
- First Ma'abara (temporary immigrant camp) is established
- The immigrants encountered many adjustment difficulties. The fledgling state had just
emerged from the bruising War of Independence, was in grievous economic condition, and
found it difficult to provide hundreds of thousands of immigrants with housing and jobs.
Much effort was devoted towards absorbing the immigrants: ma'abarot - camps of tin
shacks and tents - and later permanent dwellings were erected; employment opportunities
were created; the Hebrew language was taught; and the educational system was expanded
and adjusted to meet the needs of children from many different backgrounds.
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