2003 in Israel

Israel entered 2003 in its third consecutive year of recession and amid the grinding violence of the Second Intifada.[4] By the end of the year, 900 Israelis had been killed and more than 7,000 injured since the violence began in 2000.[5] The preceding unity government had collapsed in late 2002, triggering early national elections.[6] Economically, the preceding two years had seen GDP contract by 0.9 percent in 2001 and 1 percent in 2002, a downturn the State Department attributed to the security situation and Israeli-Palestinian violence, the high-tech downturn, the Nasdaq crisis, and the global economic slowdown.[6]

The Israeli military's security-control stage, codenamed "Determined Path," had run from June 2002 into May 2003, with its primary aim of forestalling terrorism — especially suicide bombings.[7] During the second quarter of 2003, Israel introduced a complementary strategic move called "regularization," involving permanent security arrangements, notably construction of a separation fence.[7] It was against this backdrop of ongoing violence and political uncertainty that Israel held its January election and then navigated a year of intense diplomatic activity.

National elections for the 16th Knesset were held on January 28, 2003, after Israel's unity government collapsed in late 2002.[6] The contest pitted Likud leader Ariel Sharon against Labor leader Amram Mitzna, taking place against the backdrop of the Second Intifada and what analysts described as the "death of Oslo." The Likud campaign slogan "The nation wants Sharon" reflected an emphasis on Sharon's personal image; a cited media study found that 33.2 percent of television election coverage concerned crime and corruption, compared with 9.6 percent concerning terror and security and 7.2 percent concerning Palestinians and negotiations.[8]

The 2003 Israel National Election Study found that voters were simultaneously focused on multiple issues: 67 percent considered peace and the territories a major voting consideration, 66 percent cited terrorism, 63 percent cited the economy, and 51 percent cited social policy.[8] A separate January–February 2003 Peace Index discussion showed 45 percent of voters prioritizing economic rehabilitation as the new government's top priority, while 42 percent selected resolving the conflict.[8]

Of 4,720,074 registered voters, 3,200,773 ballots were cast, including 3,148,364 valid ballots; the Central Elections Committee's historical table lists voter turnout at 68.9 percent.[9][10] Likud won 38 of the 120 seats with 29.4 percent of the vote, followed by Labor-Meimad with 19 seats and 14.5 percent, and Shinui with 15 seats and 12.3 percent; Shas received 11 seats and the National Union 7.[9] Thirteen party lists won representation overall.[9] The election substantially strengthened Likud, which had held only 19 seats in 1999, while Labor fell from 26 seats and Shinui rose from 6 to 15.[9] The result produced a center-right and religious bloc of 69 seats, compared with 51 seats for center, center-left, and Arab parties.[9]

The election also marked a return to the system in which the prime minister was chosen from the dominant party rather than elected directly, as had occurred in the preceding elections.[11] Following the vote, Ariel Sharon formed Israel's 30th government, comprising Likud, the right-wing National Religious Party, the National Union party, and the centrist Shinui party.[6] The government took office on February 28, 2003, and remained in office until May 4, 2006.[12]

The Israel Security Agency recorded 3,838 terrorist attacks against Israeli targets in 2003, in which 213 Israelis were murdered — 50 members of the security forces and 163 civilians.[13] This represented approximately a 30 percent decline in attacks and a decline of more than 50 percent in fatalities compared with the 5,301 attacks and 451 deaths recorded in 2002.[13] Israeli authorities attributed part of the reduction to intensive counterterrorism operations, stating that an average of 40 warnings per day were being received.[13]

Major attacks during the year included a double suicide bombing near Tel Aviv's old central bus station on January 5 that killed 23 people and wounded 107.[14] On January 29, a suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus killed 11 Israeli civilians.[6] On March 5, a bombing on a Haifa bus killed 15 and wounded 40.[14] An attack at Mike's Place in Tel Aviv on April 30 killed three and injured 64.[14]

A cease-fire — known as a hudna — announced by Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad on June 29, 2003 brought a temporary reduction in violence.[15] It ended abruptly after a Hamas suicide bombing on Jerusalem's Number 2 bus on August 19 that killed 22 people and wounded more than 130.[15] The Israeli Cabinet responded on September 1 by deciding to wage an all-out war against Hamas and other terrorist organizations and to freeze the diplomatic process with the Palestinian Authority.[15] Less than three weeks later, on September 9, two suicide attacks occurred within hours of each other: one at a hitchhiking stop near the IDF Tzrifin base that killed nine soldiers and civilians and wounded 14, and another at a Jerusalem café that killed seven people and wounded 70.[13]

On October 4, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad suicide bombing at Haifa's Maxim Restaurant killed 21 Israeli civilians and wounded 60.[6] On October 15, a bomb struck a U.S. Embassy convoy in the Gaza Strip, killing three American security guards and wounding one — described by the Israel Security Agency as the first terrorist attack against a U.S. target since 1967 and one that remained unsolved.[13] The attack led the United States to ban visits by American diplomats to the Gaza Strip; that ban remained in place for more than a year and a half, until June 2005.[16] A December 25 attack at the Geha junction in Tel Aviv killed three Israelis.[6]

Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade were responsible for most attacks, which included suicide bombings, shootings, and mortar attacks against civilian and military targets.[17] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recorded 26 suicide attacks causing 144 deaths in 2003, and 214 terrorism-related deaths with 1,004 wounded for the year as a whole.[18]

Construction of a physical barrier intended to restrict terrorist movement was both a practical security tool and a major political development. The first phase, covering approximately 85 miles from Salem to Elkana, was completed at the end of July 2003.[19] By October, a Steinmetz Center poll found that 83 percent of Israeli Jews supported the security fence.[20] A broader survey in the fall placed support among Israeli Jews at 80 percent, with 16 percent opposed; approximately two-thirds of supporters favored allowing the government to determine the route according to security and other considerations, while about 20 percent preferred that it follow the Green Line.[7]

In April 2003, the Quartet — the United States, United Nations, European Union, and Russian Federation — published the Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.[21] The plan contained three stages: an initial stage intended to end terror and violence, normalize Palestinian life, and establish Palestinian Authority institutions; an intermediate stage intended to consolidate stability and establish a Palestinian state with provisional borders; and a final stage of negotiations leading to a permanent agreement, with the original timetable envisioning completion by 2005.[15][21]

The Roadmap's first stage linked political progress to security and institutional measures. Israel's formal response called for Palestinian security reform, dismantling terrorist organizations, collecting illegal weapons, and ending terror, violence, and incitement; it also stated that, subject to security conditions, Israel would work to restore Palestinian life to normal and facilitate humanitarian activity.[22] At Aqaba, Sharon pledged to begin removing unauthorized outposts, while Abbas pledged to pursue Palestinian goals peacefully and combat terrorism.[23][24]

Israeli emissaries submitted 14 reservations on April 14.[23] On May 23, Sharon announced that Israel accepted the Roadmap after the United States promised to address Israeli comments during implementation, and the government approved acceptance on May 25.[15] Israel's formal response emphasized performance rather than fixed timetables, complete cessation of terror before progress between stages, American management of monitoring, and Israeli security conditions for redeployment.[22] The Palestinian Authority also announced its acceptance of the plan.[21]

On June 4, 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Sharon, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and Jordan's King Abdullah II met at Aqaba, Jordan, to begin a new phase of negotiations.[15] Sharon expressed support for Palestinian territorial contiguity and promised to remove unauthorized outposts, while Abbas pledged to pursue Palestinian goals peacefully and combat terrorism.[23] Sharon's statement at Aqaba described the objective as a negotiated settlement involving two states, while emphasizing Israel's security concerns and the need to dismantle terrorist organizations.[24]

The diplomatic momentum proved fragile. Mahmoud Abbas, serving as the Palestinian Authority's first prime minister, resigned in September 2003 after failing to obtain sufficient authority to restore law and order, fight terrorism, and reform Palestinian institutions.[6] His resignation, combined with continuing violence, contributed to a political crisis of confidence between Israelis and Palestinians.[6] Among Palestinian political dynamics, Hamas strengthened its position near the end of 2003: in trade-union and student-society elections, Hamas received approximately 20 percent of the vote, compared with 10 percent previously, while Fatah's share fell by about 10 percentage points to approximately 25 percent.[7] In one example, Hamas won seven seats to Fatah's two in elections to the engineers' union in Gaza.[7]

The most consequential political moment of the year came on December 18, 2003, when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon addressed the Fourth Herzliya Conference and disclosed his intention to implement a unilateral disengagement from the Palestinians.[25] Sharon had been laying groundwork for the announcement in preceding weeks: he first laid foundations for a unilateral move in a Knesset statement on October 20, warned on November 27 that Israel's tolerance had limits, and referred to disengagement in December as a "complex, unilateral security move."[7]

At Herzliya, Sharon said that if the Palestinians failed to fulfill their Roadmap obligations, Israel would initiate unilateral disengagement.[7] He defined the plan as a security measure intended to reduce terrorism, minimize friction, improve Israeli security, and redeploy IDF forces along new security lines; he also said that some settlements would be relocated, without naming them at that stage.[25] The proposed policy ultimately involved evacuating Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — and was presented as the first prospective unilateral Israeli withdrawal from large sections of Mandatory Palestine.[16]

The announcement was politically significant because Sharon had been identified with the settlement movement throughout his career.[20] An end-of-year assessment noted that Sharon's public call for withdrawal from some West Bank settlements and removal of unauthorized outposts represented a significant ideological shift, and that 55 percent of Israelis approved of unilateral withdrawal from an unspecified number of settlements.[20] Observers debated whether the plan represented a genuine change in his political outlook or a tactical effort to strengthen Israel's control over parts of the West Bank, a question that remained contested.[16] A Jerusalem Center account reported that the National Security Council, headed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland, was assigned high priority to developing the plan, including its international linkages, security arrangements, and humanitarian-assistance planning.[26]

The proposed disengagement challenged a foundational settlement-era premise — the idea that "the fate of Netzarim is the fate of Tel Aviv" — because it implied that an isolated Gaza settlement did not necessarily determine Israel's future borders.[16] In November 2003, polling showed Israelis divided on approach: 40 percent favored a political path for dealing with Palestinian violence and 40 percent favored a military path; 61 percent of Israeli Jews felt personally threatened and 62 percent believed Israel's national security was under threat.[7]

The Israeli economy began 2003 in its third consecutive year of recession.[4] GDP grew by only 1.3 percent during the year, per-capita GDP declined by 0.5 percent, inflation was -1.9 percent, and the state budget deficit reached 5.6 percent of GDP. Government debt reached NIS 520 billion, approximately 105 percent of GDP.[4] A separate indicator table lists the total budget deficit at 6.1 percent of GDP.[27]

Marginal economic recovery began to take shape during the year. The State Department attributed renewed growth — which it placed at 1.2 percent — to the completion of the Iraq War, potential political progress, approval of an economic recovery plan, and approval of U.S. loan guarantees.[6] In May 2003, the United States Congress approved guarantees enabling the Israeli government to raise capital abroad, in the amount of $9 billion over three years, placed within the context of the government's financing and debt-management needs during the recession.[4]

A November 2003 estimate placed Israel's total population at 6.7 million, with Jews comprising 80.1 percent and non-Jews — mostly Arabs — comprising 19.9 percent.[6] A separate demographic table gives the end-of-year population as 6,748,000 and describes the annual increase of 117,000 people, or 1.8 percent, as the lowest one-year increase since 1990.[28] A land-use database based on Central Bureau of Statistics information used a population figure of 6,436,870 and recorded growth of 642,614 people, or 11.1 percent, between 1998 and 2003.[29]

Immigrants who arrived mainly from the former Soviet Union after 1989 constituted approximately 13 percent of the population as of 2003.[6] A Jewish demographic estimate placed Israel's core Jewish population at approximately 5.094 million at the beginning of 2003, an increase of 69,200 people, or 1.4 percent, from the beginning of 2002.[30] A separate estimate placed Israel's Jewish population at over 5.1 million in 2003, representing 39 percent of world Jewry that year.[31] These figures are shaped by definitions of Jewish identification, births and deaths, conversion or withdrawal from Judaism, intermarriage, and community affiliation, and the geographic coverage may include Israeli-controlled areas and Jewish populations in Judea and Samaria and Gaza — factors that affect comparisons with official population totals.[30]

On July 31, 2003, the Knesset enacted the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Provision), 5763-2003.[32] The law limited the possibility of granting Israeli citizenship to residents of Judea and Samaria and Gaza, including through family reunification, and restricted the granting of residence permits; it nevertheless allowed entry for medical treatment, employment, or other temporary purposes for up to six months.[32] The measure was presented in the context of security concerns arising from the ongoing intifada and was politically and legally contested.

Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon became the first Israeli in space when Space Shuttle Columbia launched on January 16, 2003.[2] Columbia spent 16 days in orbit before disintegrating during atmospheric reentry on February 1; Ramon and the other six crew members died.[2] The loss was mourned throughout Israel as a national tragedy, representing both the end of Ramon's historic mission and the deaths of all seven crew members in the disaster.

In 2003, the White City of Tel Aviv was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognizing the city's internationally significant collection of International Style architecture built during the British Mandate period.[3] The same official report notes that Acre and Masada were ceremonially inscribed as World Heritage Sites during the reporting period, though those two sites had entered the World Heritage List earlier, in 2001.[3]

Several developments initiated or accelerated in 2003 continued into subsequent years. Sharon's 30th government remained in office until May 4, 2006.[12] Israel's Cabinet approved disengagement in June 2004, and the plan was implemented in the Gaza Strip and four northern Samaria communities in August 2005.[15] Terrorism-related deaths fell from 214 in 2003 to 117 in 2004, while the number of suicide attacks fell from 26 to 15.[18]

The principal events of 2003 have generated significant interpretive disagreement that the sources in this article reflect rather than resolve. Israel's performance-based reservations to the Roadmap shaped disputes over the plan's obligations and sequencing.[22][23] The route and legal status of the security barrier — presented by Israeli authorities as a counterterrorism measure — became a subject of international legal proceedings and ongoing dispute.[19]

Sharon's December 2003 disengagement announcement generated debate among analysts over whether it constituted a genuine strategic reorientation or a maneuver to entrench Israel's position in the West Bank by appearing to offer a concession in Gaza.[16] Annual casualty figures vary by scope and definitions: one assessment records 214 Israeli deaths, while the Israel Security Agency review records 213.[1][13] The State Department's regional overview uses a wider geographic scope, while Foreign Ministry data records 214 terrorism-related deaths and 1,004 wounded.[17][18] The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law of July 2003 remained politically and legally contested, particularly regarding its restrictions on family reunification involving residents of Judea and Samaria and Gaza.[32]