Israel's History:
1986

1986:
by Michael Bassin, 2003 Israel Affairs IGB

1986 was one crazy year and here's why:

• Not only were there two Prime Ministers (Shimon Peres AND Yitzhak Shamir) as part of an agreement between the Labor party and the Likud bloc in 1984, but the first liver transplant in Israel took place too.
• An Israel embassy employee in Egypt was killed by terrorists.
• Natan Sharansky made aliyah to Israel from the USSR.
  In case you didn't know, he was arrested in 1977 by Soviet authorities for underground Zionist activities and charges of treason and espionage. Although the US government denied any connection between Sharansky and the CIA, Sharansky was found guilty in 1978 and sentenced to 13 years in prison. An international campaign followed calling for his release. He was released on Feb. 11 1986 and flown to Israel that night. He has served as Minister of Industry and Trade, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Housing and Construction, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister without Portfolio.
• In other news, Prime Minister Peres met with King Hassan II IN Morocco. King Hassan's father had supported the mass migration of Moroccan Jews to Israel.
• Israeli navigator Lieutenant Colonel Ron Arad was shot down over Lebanon and was captured by the Amal terrorist organization of Iran. He has been held captive by several other organizations and been denied basic rights as a POW according to the Geneva Convention. He remains in captivity today.
• An Israel interest office was opened in Warsaw, Poland reestablishing diplomatic ties between Israel and Eastern Europe. Diplomatic ties were also developed with Spain.