JCE History key terms

The nationalist movement holding that Jews are a people entitled to self-determination in their ancestral homeland, emerging in late 19th-century Europe and central to modern Israeli history.

Hebrew for "ascent," denoting Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel; successive waves before and after 1948 shaped the country's population and politics.

The Jewish community in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, including its institutions, settlements, and self-governing bodies.

The dispersion of Jews outside the Land of Israel, and the communities living there; a central concept in Jewish history, identity, and relations with the State of Israel.

The main underground Jewish defense force in Mandatory Palestine, founded in 1920; it became the core of the Israel Defense Forces in 1948.

A Jewish paramilitary organization in Mandatory Palestine (1931–1948) that took a more aggressive line than the Haganah against British rule and Arab targets.

A small, radical Jewish underground group in Mandatory Palestine, also called the Stern Gang, known for assassinations and attacks against British and Arab targets.

The 1917 British statement supporting "a national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, a pivotal document in the conflict over the territory.

The League of Nations mandate granted to Britain to govern Palestine from 1920 to 1948, a period that shaped the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

A British policy statement restricting Jewish immigration and land purchases in Palestine and promising Arab-majority independence, sharply opposed by Zionists.

The 1947 UN General Assembly resolution recommending partition of Mandatory Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, accepted by Jewish leaders and rejected by Arab leaders.

The proclamation issued on 14 May 1948 establishing the State of Israel, read by David Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv as the British Mandate ended.

The war fought after Israel's declaration of independence between Israel and neighboring Arab states, resulting in Israeli statehood and displacement of many Palestinians.

Arabic for "catastrophe," referring to the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 war and the founding of Israel.

Palestinians displaced by the 1948 and 1967 wars and their descendants; their status and right of return are core issues in peace negotiations.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, established in 1949 to provide education, health, and humanitarian services to registered Palestinian refugees.

The June 1967 war in which Israel captured the Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights, reshaping the regional map.

Territories captured by Israel in 1967 - the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights - whose legal status is disputed internationally.

Israeli civilians and organizations establishing communities in the West Bank and Gaza after 1967, a highly contested policy central to the conflict.

The October 1973 war launched by Egypt and Syria against Israel on the Jewish holy day, leading to a ceasefire and later Egyptian–Israeli peace.

The 1978 agreements brokered by US President Jimmy Carter between Israel and Egypt, leading to the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty.

The 1993–1995 agreements between Israel and the PLO establishing Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza and creating the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestine Liberation Organization, founded in 1964 and recognized internationally as the representative of the Palestinian people; led by Yasser Arafat for decades.

The governing body created under the Oslo Accords to administer Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank and Gaza, headed by a president and legislature.

Arabic for "uprising"; used for the Palestinian mass uprisings against Israeli rule, notably the First Intifada from 1987 and the Second from 2000.

A Palestinian Islamist political and militant movement founded in 1987, governing Gaza since 2007 and designated a terrorist organization by several countries.

Labor Zionist leader and Israel's first prime minister (1948–1953, 1955–1963), who declared independence and shaped the young state's institutions and security.

Israel's fourth prime minister (1969–1974), the first woman to hold the office, whose tenure included the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Leader of the Likud and Israeli prime minister (1977–1983), who signed the Camp David Accords and the Egypt–Israel peace treaty.

Israeli prime minister (1974–1977, 1992–1995) who signed the Oslo Accords and was assassinated in 1995 by a Jewish extremist.

Chairman of the PLO (1969–2004) and president of the Palestinian Authority, a central figure in Palestinian nationalism and the Oslo process.

The Land of Israel Workers' Party, a dominant Labor Zionist party in the Yishuv and early Israel; a forerunner of the modern Labor Party.

Israel's main center-right political party, founded in 1973 from revisionist Zionist groups; associated with strong security policies and settlement support.

Israel's center-left party descended from Mapai and the Labor Zionist movement, historically associated with the kibbutz movement and the peace process.

An Israeli messianic-nationalist movement founded in 1974 that spearheaded settlement in the West Bank, viewing it as divinely promised land.

A collective agricultural community in Israel based on shared property and labor, influential in Labor Zionism and in the country's early leadership.

Israel's 1950 law granting Jews the right to immigrate to Israel and gain citizenship, a foundational expression of the state's Zionist character.

Jewish communities living outside Israel, whose relations with the state - funding, immigration, and political advocacy - have strongly influenced Israeli history.

The stream founded by Ze'ev Jabotinsky emphasizing a Jewish state on both banks of the Jordan and military self-defense; it inspired the Irgun and Likud.