23 Israeli, Jewish defining moments of 2023

The year 2023 unfolded relentlessly, defined by unprecedented events that will forever alter the State of Israel. Beyond the unyielding conflict in Gaza, where the flames of war continue unabated with no discernible end in sight, Israel and the Jewish people have experienced other seismic shifts.

Here are 23 defining moments of 2023, in chronological order:

1. Levin unveils judicial overhaul

Justice Minister Yariv Levin on January 4 introduced a comprehensive proposal to overhaul Israel’s legal framework. The plan aimed to diminish the authority of the High Court of Justice by introducing an override clause for 61 Knesset members. Additionally, it sought to grant the government more significant influence over the judicial selection committee, permit ministers to appoint their legal advisers independently, and cancel the reasonableness standard. Levin’s plan, the first part which passed on July 24, led to more than six months of mass protests across Israel that threatened Israel’s democracy, international standing, and economy.

2. Hamas releases hostage video

Hamas published a video of Avera Mengistu, an Israeli held captive in Gaza since 2014, on January 16 – exactly 10 months before the terrorist organization released a second hostage video, this one of Hamas massacre hostage Mia Schem lying on a bed, her right arm being bandaged by someone out of the frame. In Mengistu’s video, he asks: “How long will I and my friends be here in captivity? After long years of pain, where are the country and the people of Israel regarding our fate?”

Hamas has been holding Mengistu and the bodies of IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin for nine years, and of Israeli Hisham al-Sayed for eight. It captured more than 240 people on Oct. 7. Israel believes that more than 120 of its people remain alive and in its captivity.

3. Hamas perpetrates first major terror attack of 2023

Hamas murdered seven people and wounded three others in a shooting attack outside the Ateret Avraham Synagogue in Jerusalem’s Neveh Ya’acov neighborhood on January 27 – International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The murder victims were Asher Natan, 14; Ilya Sosansky, 26; Natali Mizrahi, 45, and her husband, Eli Mizrahi, 48; Rafael (Rafi) Ben Eliyahu, 56; Ukrainian citizen Irina Korolova, 59; and Shaul Hai, 68.

4. Earthquakes strike Turkey, Syria

Devastating earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, killing more than 50,000 people. Israel sent a delegation of rescue workers and medical and other supplies to Turkey.

5. Spy satellite launches

Israel successfully launched the Ofek-13 spy satellite into space on March 29, which experts said is the most advanced of its kind. At the launch ceremony in central Israel, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “We will continue to prove that even the sky isn’t the limit for the Israeli defense establishment.”

6. Azerbaijan opens embassy

On that same day, Azerbaijan became the first Shia Muslim country to open an embassy in Tel Aviv, more than 30 years after establishing diplomatic relations. “Israel and Azerbaijan share the same perception of the Iranian threat,” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said at the ceremony. “The Iranian ayatollah regime threatens both our regions, finances terrorism, and destabilizes the entire Middle East. We must act together to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear capabilities.”

7. Terrorist murders Dee Family

A Palestinian terrorist opened fire on and murdered Anglo immigrants Lucy, Maia, and Rina Dee as they drove near the Hamra Junction on Route 57 in the Jordan Valley. Father and husband Rabbi Leo Dee, who made aliyah with his family from London in 2014, became a national symbol of unity after he issued a plea for Israeli unity at the funeral of his daughters amid deepening rifts over the government’s plan to overhaul the judiciary. In September, the Foreign Ministry appointed Dee the special envoy for social initiatives.

8. Moody’s downgrades Israel

The credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded the outlook of the Israeli economy on April 14 from “positive” to “stable,” citing the “deterioration of Israel’s governance” amid the threat of judicial reform. “The manner in which the government has attempted to implement a wide-ranging reform without seeking broad consensus points to a weakening of institutional strength and policy predictability,” the agency said..

9. Israel launches war with Islamic Jihad

Israel launched Operation Shield and Arrow on May 9 in response to the firing of dozens of rockets by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operatives the week before. During the 116-hour operation, the IDF said it struck over 700 terrorist targets and assassinated more than two dozen strategic PIJ operatives.

10. Israeli wins gold in Qatar

On May 12, Israel’s Inbar Lanir won a gold medal in the under 78-kg. class at the World Judo Championships in Doha, Qatar. “I said before I fought that being on the podium would be enough for me,” she told the International Judo Federation. “Never in my sweetest dreams would I have thought of being world champion today.”

11. Rabbi Gershon Edelstein dies

Rabbi Gershon Edelstein died on May 30 at the age of 100. He was the foremost spiritual leader within the Lithuanian stream of ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi Jewry and spiritual leader of the Degel HaTorah Knesset faction.

12. Tel Aviv inaugurates Red Line

Tel Aviv inaugurated its long-awaited Red Line light rail on August 17. The line connects five major cities: Petah Tikva, Bnei Brak, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and Bat Yam.

14. Malka Leifer gets 15 years

Former Australian Jewish school principal Malka Leifer was sentenced to 15 years in jail on August 24 for sexually assaulting sisters Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper. Leifer escaped to Israel in 2008 to evade punishment. She was extradited to Australia in 2021.

15. Fifth Jerusalem embassy opens

Papua New Guinea became the fifth nation to move its embassy to Jerusalem on September 5. Prime Minister James Marape, a Christian, led the move. He said during the ceremony that “paying respect to God will not be complete without recognizing that Jerusalem is the universal capital of the people and nation of Israel.”

16. US admits Israel to Visa Waiver Program

America announced that Israel had been accepted into the US Visa Waiver Program on September 27. The move allows Israelis to request electronic entry to America for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa, the State Department explained. “The designation of Israel into the Visa Waiver Program is an important recognition of our shared security interests and the close cooperation between our two countries,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas during the announcement.

17. World’s oldest Bible arrives in Israel

The Codex Sassoon, believed to be the world’s oldest Bible, arrived in Israel on October 5 and made its way to the ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv. The Bible was purchased by former US diplomat Alfred H. Moses on behalf of the American Friends of ANU in May 2023 for $38.1 million at Sotheby’s in New York.

18. Hamas massacres Israelis

Several thousand Hamas and other terrorists infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7, murdering more than 1,200 people and wounding nearly 5,000 more. The terrorists destroyed over 20 Israeli kibbutzim and towns, burning hundreds of houses to the ground – many with people inside them. They attacked a music party taking place in an open field near Kibbutz Re’im, butchering over 360 people. Some 240 individuals were taken hostage, of which more than 120 remain in Hamas captivity.

19. Biden proves he has Israel’s back

On the day of the Hamas massacre, US President Joe Biden addressed the world and said that “the United States stands with Israel. We will not ever fail to have their back.” The president delivered additional remarks on October 10 and visited the country on October 18. While calling for humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza and protecting innocent civilians, the US has been unequivocal in its support for Israel since the start of Operation Swords of Iron.

20. Some 300,000 march for Israel

Approximately 300,000 people converged at the March for Israel rally on November 14 in Washington, DC. The event, orchestrated by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations, featured three hours of impassioned speeches by politicians, artists, and spiritual leaders. Their unified messages called for the release of the Israeli hostages and to combat the escalating tide of antisemitism.

21. Hostage-prisoner exchange kicks off

On the night of Friday, November 24, the first group of Israeli hostages, including several children, was liberated from the clutches of Hamas. A six-day halt in hostilities ultimately paved the way for the release of 105 individuals from Gaza in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

22. Henry Kissinger dies

The first Jewish US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, died in his Connecticut home on November 28 at the age of 100. Kissinger was instrumental during the Yom Kippur War in Israel in 1973. In an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post less than two months before he died, he said, “I am Jewish, so it doesn’t take anything for me to respect the Jewish people.”

23. Ivy League sparks uproar

The presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania sparked uproar on December 5 by asserting during a congressional hearing that the determination of whether advocating for the genocide of the Jewish people violates campus codes of conduct “depends on the context.” The hearing came following several antisemitic incidents on college campuses, including one in which Jewish students locked themselves in a library during a pro-Palestinian rally at Cooper Union College. The Anti-Defamation League reported 2,031 antisemitic incidents between Oct. 7 and Dec. 7, 2023 – a 337% increase over the year before.