1980 in Israel

Menachem Begin served as prime minister throughout 1980, heading the government formed on June 20, 1977.[1] The year opened with Israeli-Egyptian normalization still in its early stages and the Camp David autonomy process unresolved. On January 7, Begin arrived in Egypt for a four-day official visit, meeting President Anwar al-Sadat in Aswan.[2] The two leaders agreed to advance normalization — exchanging ambassadors, establishing air transport, and opening telephone and postal services — but their discussions of Palestinian autonomy exposed substantial differences over the proposed self-governing authority and Jerusalem's future status, and they did not agree to accelerate those negotiations.[2]

The government faced internal difficulties throughout the year. Defense Minister Ezer Weizman resigned in May after disagreements over defense-budget cuts and disputes with Begin about relations with Egypt.[1] Justice Minister Shmuel Tamir resigned in October, citing the underrepresentation of his reduced party in the cabinet.[1] In the final quarter of the year, Religious Affairs Minister Abu-Hatzeira was accused of accepting bribes — described as the first Israeli cabinet member charged with a criminal offense — his Knesset immunity was lifted, and the affair weakened both the National Religious Party and the government as a whole.[1]

The formal establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Egypt, agreed in the 1979 peace treaty, took concrete shape at the start of 1980. Egypt appointed Saad Mortada as its first ambassador to Israel on January 5; Israel's embassy opened in Cairo on February 18, and Egyptian diplomats arrived to open Egypt's embassy in Tel Aviv on February 21.[3] The formal ambassador exchange took place on February 26. Mortada and Israel's Eliahu Ben-Elissar had met at Ben Gurion Airport the previous day before proceeding to their posts.[4] At the ceremony, Ben-Elissar declared: "It is a great day for Israel and Egypt, a great contribution to the tranquilization of the region and to universal peace ... peace with Egypt is the first and there will be more to follow."[4]

Commercial air links between the two countries began on March 3, followed by agreements concerning tourism, civil aviation, Egyptian oil sales, transport, culture, education, and science.[3] Egypt's parliament approved the first trade agreement between the two countries on May 8, and joint committees were established to encourage engagement across different sectors.[5]

Normalization nonetheless proceeded slowly and unevenly. Implementation faced bureaucratic difficulties, including long waits for entry visas for Israeli tourists, and Egypt's preference was described as a "cold peace" rather than active people-to-people ties.[1] A notable exception came in November, when Israeli President Yitzhak Navon visited Egypt, addressed the ruling-party leadership, and held discussions with editors, writers, professors, and political figures — a visit described as a "definite turning point" in bilateral relations.[1] Despite the diplomatic progress, disagreement over whether East Jerusalem should be included in a Palestinian autonomy arrangement was one reason the broader Camp David autonomy talks failed to advance.[6]

The most consequential domestic legislation of 1980 was enacted on July 30, when the Ninth Knesset passed Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel, at the initiative of MK Geula Cohen.[7] Its first article states: "The complete and united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel."[8] The law named Jerusalem as the seat of the President, Knesset, Government, and Supreme Court; required protection of the holy places and freedom of access for members of all religions; and directed the government and relevant authorities to promote the city's development and prosperity.[7][8]

The original 1980 law consisted of four substantive articles. A 2000 amendment later added territorial definitions and restrictions on transferring powers concerning Jerusalem to a foreign political or governing authority.[8] Enacted thirteen years after the city's reunification following the 1967 war, the law gave statutory form to Jerusalem's status and consolidated provisions concerning the location of national institutions.[9][10]

The international reaction to the Jerusalem Basic Law was swift and largely hostile. On August 20, 1980, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 478 by 14 votes to none, with the United States abstaining.[11][12] The resolution described the Basic Law as an attempt to alter Jerusalem's character and status, declared the law and related measures "null and void," and called on states with diplomatic missions in Jerusalem to withdraw them.[11]

Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, speaking for the United States at the Security Council, called Resolution 478 "fundamentally flawed" and argued that its call to withdraw diplomatic missions was not binding.[13] The U.S. abstention reflected a broader American position: Washington had already objected to the Jerusalem Law but declined to support a resolution it considered overreaching in its remedies.[13] Thirteen embassies that had been located in Jerusalem subsequently relocated following the resolution.[12]

In 1980, the European Community issued the Venice Declaration on the Middle East, in which the nine member states rejected unilateral initiatives to change Jerusalem's status and called for freedom of access to the holy places.[14] In June, a proposal by nine Common Market members called for Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 lines, the establishment of a Palestinian state, and a European military force to oversee the borders; Israel rejected these proposals.[1] By December, the UN General Assembly had adopted resolutions calling for withdrawal from territories including East Jerusalem, an end to settlements, and Security Council economic sanctions against Israel.[1] Israel's sense of international isolation grew through the year as hopes that the peace treaty with Egypt would improve relations with African and Asian states failed to materialize.[1]

A separate UN action earlier in the year also drew attention. On March 1, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 465, which called on Israel to dismantle existing settlements and cease construction of new ones in territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem.[15] The United States voted in favor of the resolution, but President Jimmy Carter subsequently clarified that the vote did not change the U.S. position: while Washington opposed establishing settlements, it considered the resolution's call to dismantle existing ones improper and impractical, and believed their future should be determined through negotiations.[16]

The West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — experienced a serious deterioration in security and political stability in 1980. The turbulence was linked in part to the Camp David process and the refusal of Jordan and local Palestinians to participate in autonomy negotiations.[1] Israeli authorities began deposing mayors elected in the 1976 municipal elections and, in some cases, deporting them, citing refusal to cooperate with military authorities and incitement of unrest.[17]

On April 7, terrorists attacked the children's house at Kibbutz Misgav-Am, killing three people, including one child.[18]

On May 2, members of a Fatah cell attacked Jewish students near Beit Hadassah in Hebron, killing six.[19] A contemporary Religious News Service account described the attack as a peak in escalating tensions between Arab residents of Hebron and Jewish residents of nearby Kiryat Arba. It reported a widely believed PLO role and contemporary interpretations connecting the attack to negotiations over self-administration in Judea and Samaria and Gaza; those were assessments rather than independently established findings.[20] Four members of the cell were sentenced to prison and later released in a prisoner exchange.[19]

In the immediate aftermath, Israeli authorities expelled what were described as the most ardent pro-PLO leaders in the area.[21] The mayors of Hebron and Halhoul were deported to Lebanon for incitement, a decision later upheld by the Israeli Supreme Court.[1][3] On May 8, the UN Security Council voted for a resolution calling on Israel to rescind the deportations, with the United States abstaining.[3] The Hebron violence also became a catalyst for the operational organization of settlers in the Hebron and Kiryat Arba area who formed a compartmentalized underground structure with access to weapons and explosives.[22]

On June 2, bombs exploded in the cars of Bassam al-Shakaa, mayor of Nablus, and Karim Khalaf, mayor of Ramallah. Al-Shakaa lost both legs and Khalaf lost one foot. A third bomb near the home of Ibrahim Tawil, mayor of al-Bireh, seriously injured and permanently blinded bomb-disposal expert Suleiman Harbawi as he attempted to examine it.[23] Later accounts attribute the attacks to the Jewish terrorist network known as the Jewish Underground, which was exposed in April 1984.[23] Student strikes, harsher Israeli measures, and continued unrest followed through the remainder of the year, even as living standards and economic conditions in the administered areas continued to improve.[1]

On February 24, 1980, Israel replaced the lira with the shekel at a conversion rate of ten Israeli lirot to one shekel.[3] The transition had been planned years in advance: the Knesset had legislated for the shekel as far back as 1969, and government and Bank of Israel preparations advanced in 1977–78.[24] Final preparations were kept secret; economic reporters were summoned to a press conference on February 22 and informed that the new currency would enter circulation two days later.[24] A new agora coin series also took effect at the same time.[24]

The currency change came against a backdrop of severe inflation. The Bank of Israel recorded that inflation in Israel reached 133 percent in 1980, part of a longer acceleration that had begun in the 1970s.[25] Some inflationary pressure had been imported after the oil-price increases of 1973 and 1979, and the broader policy environment after the 1977 political change involved a loosely managed exchange rate, relaxed controls on outgoing capital, and fiscal expansion supported by monetary accommodation.[25] The historical survey describes Israel's 1980 economy as troubled by inflation, housing shortages, strained labor relations, and emigration, all of which depressed public morale.[1] Some inflationary pressure was also attributed to the costs of evacuating from Sinai and the IDF's redeployment in the Negev, where two airbases were built by American companies.[1]

On May 1, 1980, a large crowd followed the Histadrut's call to oppose the Likud government's economic liberalization policies.[26] The gathering was one of the largest demonstrations in Israel's history and was a striking display of the Histadrut's ability to mobilize workers against the government's economic direction.[26]

In February, the Knesset approved the Lavi aircraft project, which had grown out of efforts to develop military aircraft domestically.[27] Intended as a relatively inexpensive, multirole fighter tailored to Israeli Air Force requirements and designed to exceed the performance of the F-16, the project was eventually canceled by the government in 1987.[27]

On December 31, Israeli planes struck terrorist bases in southern Lebanon, and two Syrian planes were shot down.[3]

Several developments of 1980 had consequences beyond the calendar year. Resolution 478 led thirteen embassies to relocate from Jerusalem.[12] The Jewish Underground was exposed in April 1984 and was subsequently identified as responsible for the June 1980 bombings of Palestinian mayors.[23] The Lavi fighter project, approved in February 1980, continued for seven years before the government canceled it in August 1987.[27]

The sources disagree over several details. The Center for Israel Education and Ynet date the passage of the Jerusalem Basic Law to July 30, 1980.[10][9] A U.S. State Department editorial note gives July 29, while a Washington Institute account gives June 30.[13][12] The main text follows July 30 because that date appears in multiple Israeli accounts.

The casualty toll from the May 2 Hebron attack also varies. The Jewish Virtual Library timeline reports seven students killed and sixteen wounded, while Ynet identifies six people killed and names them.[3][19] Accounts of the June 2 mayoral bombings differ because contemporaneous sources described the assailants as unknown, while later accounts attributed the attacks to the Jewish Underground after its exposure in 1984.[1][23]