Events in the year 1997 in Israel.

Incumbents

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel ( he, נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Nesi Medinat Yisra'el, or he, נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה, Nesi HaMedina, President of the State) is the head of state of Israel. The posi ...

–

Ezer Weizman Ezer Weizman (; he, עֵזֶר וַיצְמָן ''Ezer Vaytsman''; 15 June 1924 – 24 April 2005) was the seventh President of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Ai ...

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exec ...

–

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

(

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...

) * President of the Supreme Court – Aharon Barak * Chief of General Staff –

Amnon Lipkin-Shahak Amnon Lipkin-Shahak ( he, אמנון ליפקין-שחק; March 18, 1944 – December 19, 2012) was an Israeli military officer and politician. He served as Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, as a Member of the Knesset, and as Minister o ...

* Government of Israel – 27th Government of Israel

Events

* 4 February –

1997 Israeli helicopter disaster The 1997 Israeli helicopter disaster ( he, אסון המסוקים: ''Ason HaMasokim'', lit. ''Disaster of the Helicopters'') occurred on February 4, 1997, when two Israeli Air Force transport helicopters ferrying Israeli soldiers into Israel's ...

: Two IAF troop-transport CH-53 Sea Stallion

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s collide in darkness near the remote

She'ar Yashuv She'ar Yashuv ( he, שְׁאָר יָשׁוּב) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Upper Galilee in the northeastern Hula Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mevo'ot HaHermon Regional Council. In it had a population of . The ...

kibbutz, in northern Israel, killing 77

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

soldiers. * 13 March –

Island of Peace massacre The Island of Peace massacre was a mass murder attack that occurred at the Island of Peace site in Naharayim on March 13, 1997, in which a Jordanian soldier opened fire at a large group of Israeli schoolgirls from the AMIT Fuerst (Fürst) Schoo ...

: Seven 11-year-old girls from

Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh ( he, בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ ) is a city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District, with a population of in . History Tel Beit Shemesh The small archaeological tell northeast of the modern city wa ...

's Feurst School are killed and many other are severely injured by a

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

ian soldier, who opened fire on the schoolchildren while they were on a class trip at the "

Island of Peace The Island of Peace, or Al-Baqoura as it is known in Jordan, is an area in northern Jordan bordering the Jordan River. The park is at the confluence of the Jordan River and Yarmouk River.

", a joint Israeli and Jordanian tourist resort, under Jordanian rule. * July - The

1997 Maccabiah Games The 15th Maccabiah Games are remembered for being marred by a Maccabiah bridge collapse, bridge collapse that killed several participants. The Maccabiah had more than 5,000 athletes from 33 countries competing in 36 sports. New sports for the Game ...

are held. * 14 July –

Maccabiah bridge collapse The Maccabiah bridge collapse was the catastrophic failure of a pedestrian bridge over the Yarkon River in Tel Aviv, Israel on July 14, 1997. The collapse of the temporary metal and wooden structure killed four and injured more than 60 Australian ...

- A pedestrian bridge collapses over the

Yarkon River The Yarkon River, also Yarqon River or Jarkon River ( he, נחל הירקון, ''Nahal HaYarkon'', ar, نهر العوجا, ''Nahr al-Auja''), is a river in central Israel. The source of the Yarkon ("Greenish" in Hebrew) is at Tel Afek (Antip ...

killing four and injuring 60 Australian athletes who are visiting Israel to participate in the

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (a.k.a. the World Maccabiah Games; he, משחקי המכביה, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics"), first held in 1932, are an international Jewish and Israeli multi-sp ...

. File:Israel 159.JPG,

Peace Island The Island of Peace, or Al-Baqoura as it is known in Jordan, is an area in northern Jordan bordering the Jordan River. The park is at the confluence of the Jordan River and Yarmouk River.

memorial for the victims of the 1997 Peace Island massacre File:Ason Hameso.jpg, Monument for the 73 IDF soldiers killed in the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

The most prominent events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which occurred during 1997 include: * 14 January – The government of Israel approves the

Hebron Agreement The Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron, also known as the Hebron Protocol or Hebron Agreement, was signed on 17 January 1997 by Israel, represented by Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestine Liberation Organiza ...

. * 16 January – The

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

approves the

. Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets
The most prominent Palestinian militant acts and operations committed against Israeli targets during 1997 include: * 21 March –

Café Apropo bombing The Café Apropo bombing was a Palestinian suicide bombing which occurred on 21 March 1997 in a coffee shop in Tel Aviv. Three women were killed in the attack and 48 were injured. The attack The attack occurred on 21 March 1997, on the eve of t ...

: A Palestinian Arab suicide bomber kills three and injures 49 in a coffee shop in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. * 30 July –

1997 Mahane Yehuda Market Bombings Two consecutive suicide bombings were carried out by Hamas militants on 30 July 1997 at the Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, the city's main open-air fruit and vegetable market. Sixteen people were killed in the attack and 178 were injured. T ...

: 16 Israelis are killed and 178 wounded in two consecutive suicide bombings in the

Mahane Yehuda Market Mahane Yehuda Market ( he, שוק מחנה יהודה, ''Shuk Mahane Yehuda''), often referred to as "The Shuk" ( he, השוק, HaShuq), is a marketplace (originally open-air, but now partially covered) in Jerusalem. Popular with locals and touri ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. * 4 September –

Ben Yehuda Street Bombing A series of attacks were perpetrated or ordered by Palestinian Arabs, some of them acting as suicide bombers, on Jewish targets in Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda Street from February 1948 onwards. The attacks took place before the declaration of the St ...

: Three

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

suicide bombers A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

simultaneously blow themselves up on the Ben Yehuda Street pedestrian mall in Jerusalem, killing five Israelis. The bombing was carried out by Palestinian Arabs from the village of

Asira ash-Shamaliya Asira ash-Shamaliya ( ar, عصيرة الشماليّة) is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate, located 3.5 kilometers north of Nablus in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a ...

. Notable Israeli military operations against Palestinian militancy targets
The most prominent Israeli military counter-terrorism operations (

military campaign A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the ...

s and military operations) carried out against

Palestinian militants Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence perpetrated for political ends in relation to the State of Palestine or in connection with Palestinian nationalism. Common political objectives include self-determination in and sovereig ...

during 1997 include: * 25 September –

assassination attempt This is a list of survivors of assassination attempts, listed chronologically. It does ''not'' include those who were heads of state or government at the time of the assassination attempt. See List of heads of state and government who survived as ...

on Khaled Mashal: Two

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

agents attempted to assassinate Khaled Mashal, the

' Jordanian branch chief, in Jordan by injecting him a toxin in his ear. The operation failed after the Jordanian authorities managed to apprehend the two

agents and later on, in exchange for their release, an Israeli physician had to fly to

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

and administer an antidote to Mashal. The fall out from the failed assassination eventually led to the release of Sheik

Ahmed Yassin Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin ( ar, الشيخ أحمد إسماعيل حسن ياسين; 1 January 1937 – 22 March 2004) was a Palestinian politician and imam who founded Hamas, a militant Islamist and Palestinian nationalist organiz ...

, the founder and spiritual leader of the Hamas movement, and scores of Hamas prisoners.

Notable births

* 12 April –

Marc Hinawi Marc Hinawi (also Hinnawi and Hinaui; ar, مارك حناوي; he, מארק חינאווי; born April 12, 1997) is an Arab-Israeli swimmer. At the 2013 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival, at the age of 16 Hinawi won a gold medal in the 40 ...

, swimmer * 12 May –

Odeya Rush Odeya Rushinek ( he, אודיה רושינק; born ), known professionally as Odeya Rush (), is an Israeli actress. * 4 April –

Leo Picard Leo Picard ( he, יהודה ליאו פיקרד, 3 June 1900 – 4 April 1997), was an Israeli geologist and an expert in the field of hydrogeology. Biography Yehuda Leo Picard was born in Germany in 1900, and studied at universities in Freiburg a ...

(b. 1900), German-born Israeli geologist and an expert in the field of hydrology. * 12 April –

Nechama Leibowitz Nechama Leibowitz ( he, נחמה ליבוביץ׳; September 3, 1905 – April 12, 1997 ) was a noted Israeli Bible scholar and commentator who rekindled interest in Bible study. Biography Nechama Leibowitz was born to an Orthodox Jewish fami ...

(b. 1905), Russian (Latvia)-born Israeli Bible scholar. * 17 April –

Chaim Herzog Major-General Chaim Herzog ( he, חיים הרצוג; 17 September 1918 – 17 April 1997) was an Irish-born Israeli politician, general, lawyer and author who served as the sixth President of Israel between 1983 and 1993. Born in Belfast and ...

(b. 1918), British-born Israeli politician, the sixth president of Israel. * 1 October – Inbal Perlmutter (b. 1971), Israeli musician. * 2 December – Anat Elimelech (b. 1974), Israeli actress and model * 17 December –

Uzi Narkiss Uzi Narkiss ( he, עוזי נרקיס; January 6, 1925 – December 17, 1997) was an Israeli general. Narkiss was commander of the Israel Defense Forces units in the Central Region during the 1967 Six-Day War. Narkiss appears in the famous photogr ...

(b. 1925), distinguished Israeli general.

Major public holidays

References

External links

IDF History in 1997 @ dover.idf.il
{{DEFAULTSORT:1997 In Israel

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

1990s in Israel

Years of the 20th century in Israel