The story behind the projectAbout

1948 — 2025 · Seventy-eight years

The Zionist
Time Machine

Every year in Israel's history is a station. Turn the dial and hear what was on the air — original archival photos, voices from the radio, the story, and the song of that year.

A new edition of a 2011 graduation project · See the original · עברית

The Zionist Time Machine
About עברית

1996

Direct Election

In the first direct election for prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu defeats Shimon Peres by a razor-thin margin.

  1. A wave of suicide bombings – two of them on No. 18 buses in Jerusalem and one near the Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv – took the lives of dozens of people.
  2. The IDF launched Operation Grapes of Wrath against Hezbollah in Lebanon, in response to fire on northern communities; on 18 April, 106 Lebanese civilians were killed by IDF shelling near the UN compound at Qana.
  3. Benjamin Netanyahu defeated Shimon Peres in the first direct election for prime minister, becoming the youngest prime minister in the country's history.
  4. The opening of an additional exit to the Western Wall Tunnel led to fierce clashes with many casualties between the IDF and Palestinians.
Sources