Division & War The U.N. partition of Palestine leads to several major wars between the new nation of Israel and its neghboring Arab countries.

Aug. 29, 1897 The first Zionist conference is held in Basel, Switzerland. Attended by nearly 200 delegates, the congress formulates the Basel Program, which remains the basic platform of the Zionist movement. The program defines Zionism's goal as the creation "for the Jewish people of a home in Palestine secured by public law."

Nov. 2, 1917 Britain passes the Balfour Declaration, expressing support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. In the previous 40 years, Eastern Europeans immigrated to the region in large numbers. By 1914, Jews living in Palestine grew to 85,000, about 12 percent of the population.

May 6-11, 1942 During World War II the U.S becomes the center of Zionist activity. A conference in New York results in the Biltmore Program, which rejects British restrictions on immigration into Palestine and calls for the fulfillment of the Balfour Declaration urging the establishment of Palestine as a Jewish commonwealth.

Nov. 29, 1947 The United Nations proposes to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states with Jerusalem under international control. The U.S. and Russia approve of the plan, but Britain abstains. The Zionist movement - pushing for an independent state - reluctantly accepts the proposal that is denounced by Arab states. Arabs feel that the U.N. has no right to make such a deal.

May 14, 1948 As the British mandate over Palestine expires, Jewish authorities declare a new State of Israel. Many nations recognize the new country under first prime minister David Ben-Gurion. The Arab League declares war and Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq engage in fighting with Israel until early 1949, when all parties sign truce agreements that established the borders of the new Jewish state.

1951 Egypt denies Israel access to the Suez Canal and blocks the use of the Strait of Tiran, Israel's only direct access to the Red Sea. Palestinians launch raids on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Oct. 29, 1956 Israel invades Egypt's Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. The U.N. brokers a cease-fire agreement and sends in peace-keeping troops.

Jan. 1, 1965 Yasser Arafat's Fatah Movement (founded in 1956)begins armed guerrilla attacks against Israel, which responds with raids against Syria and Jordan. Israeli security zone and border incidents escalate in intensity throughout the year.

June 5, 1967 Egypt had signed an alliance with Syria, Jordan and Iraq, and moved troops into the Sinai in May. In response, Israel launches an immense military strike at Egypt, Jordan and Syria in the Six-Day War, capturing the Gaza Strip, the Sinai, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights.

Feb. 26, 1969 Israeli secretary general Golda Meir is elected prime minister.

April 10, 1969 Egypt launches the War of Attrition against Israel along the Suez Canal. The U.S. brokers a cease-fire the next year.

September 1970 Jordan repels an attempt by the Palestine Liberation Organization to grab control of the country.

Sept. 28, 1970 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who always strongly opposed the state of Israel, dies and Anwar al-Sadat is later elected the new president.

Oct. 6, 1973 Sadat fails to negotiate the return of the Sinai to Egypt, and therefore, along with Syria, launches a surprise attack against Israeli positions in the area. Called the Yom Kippur War by Israel and the Ramadan War by Arabs, the fighting ends in late October.

April 11, 1974 Meir resigns following the release of a government report criticizing Israel's lack of preparedness for the Arab strikes the year before. Yitzhak Rabin (pictured) assumes the prime minister position. He is replaced three years later by Menachem Begin.

Nov. 22, 1974 The U.N. recognizes the right for Palestinians to have "statehood and sovereignty."

Sept. 18, 1978 U.S. President Jimmy Carter hosts Sadat and Begin at Camp David, where the leaders approve the agreements for a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt and for a comprehensive Middle East peace. They sign the accord at the White House March 26, 1979.

Oct. 6, 1981 Muslim extremists, upset with the Egypt-Israel treaty, assassinate Sadat in Cairo.

June 6, 1982 Israeli troops launch Operation Peace for Galilee into southern Lebanon, with the sole purpose of ensuring security for northern Israel and destroying the infrastructure in Lebanon of the PLO, which had staged raids into Israel

Sept. 14, 1982 Bashir Gemayel, president of Lebanon, is assassinated less than a month after the PLO withdraws its forces form Lebanon.

March 1984 Under pressure from Syria, which held considerable political and military influence in Lebanon, Lebanese president Amin Gemayel nullifies a 1983 peace agreement with Israel. Most of the Israeli forces evacuate Lebanon in 1985, leaving a small force in the south to maintain security along the border.

December 1987 The 7-year-long Palestinian uprising, or intefadeh, begins as an expression of frustration at 20 years of Israeli rule and Jewish settlement in the Occupied Territories. The movement becomes more violent over time as cease-fire attempts continue to fail.

Nov. 15, 1988 Arafat declares Palestine an independent state, acknowledges Israel's right to exist as a nation by accepting U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 - originally adopted in 1967 - and renounces terrorism. The PLO and The U.S. begin formal dialogue and Israel proposes a comprehensive peace initiative in spring 1989.

Aug. 2, 1990 Saddam Hussein's order for an Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the ensuing Gulf War in 1991 suspend efforts to seek an Arab-Israeli peace.

Sept. 13, 1993 The Oslo negotiations paved the way for the signing of a peace accord between Israel and the PLO. It proposes a Palestinian self-rule to be phased in over several years in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Peres, Rabin and Arafat win the Nobel Peace Prize.

May 4, 1994 Israel and the PLO sign an agreement in Cairo on the final status of Jericho and the Gaza Strip. Israel completes withdrawal of troops from the two regions. The Palestinian Authority led by Arafat assumes civil matters and sets up a Palestinian police force to maintain internal security.

Oct. 26, 1994 Israeli Prime Minister Rabin and Jordanian King Hussein sign a peace treaty.

Nov. 4, 1995 Israeli ultranationalist student Yigal Amir, who opposes the peace process, assassinates Rabin at a peace rally in Tel Aviv. Shimon Peres, also a major player in the peace process, takes over as Israeli prime minister.

Nov. 13, 1995 Israeli troops pull out of towns and give the Palestinians autonomy in six cities on the West Bank as part of the Oslo Accords.

Jan. 20, 1996 In their first elections since the formation of Israel almost 50 years earlier, Palestinians elect Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority. He wins more than 80 percent of the vote.

Aug. 27, 1996 Under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government lifts the four-year freeze on Jewish settlement construction in Palestinian territories by giving the go head for the expansion of the Kiryat Sefer Settlement. The building angers Arabs and puts the peace process into a dire situation.

Jan. 16, 1997 After more than 30 years of occupation, Israeli troops withdraw from the West Bank town of Hebron the day after an agreement is signed with the Palestinian Authority.

Oct. 23, 1998 Arafat and Netanyahu sign the Wye River Accord - a land-for-peace deal involving the West Bank. President Clinton hosts the Middle East Summit at the Wye River Conference Center retreat in Maryland.

Nov. 16, 1999 Citing Palestinian violations, Netanyahu freezes Israel's implementation of the peace accord and places new conditions on further withdrawals.

May 16, 1999 Ehud Barak defeats sitting prime minister Netanyahu for the top government seat and vows to continue Israel's withdrawal of troops from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

May 1-2, 1999 Mr. Clinton, Barak and Arafat meet in Oslo, Norway and agree to continue with the peace process.

May 25, 2000 Israeli troops conclude their three-day withdrawal from the security occupied zone of southern Lebanon, 18 years after Israel invaded its northern neighbor. Hezbollah guerrillas quickly overrun the Israeli-allied militia. TIMELINE CONTINUES >>>