TIME	HISTORY	WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION MILESTONES
1948	Declaration of the Independence of the State of Israel.
1948-1949	Israel is invaded by Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and	Israeli military establishes a Science Corps for the development of
	Iraq. An armistice is reached in 1949.	biological weapons. There are reports that Israel used typhoid
		and dysentery bacteria to poison water wells in Palestine.
1956	Egyptian President Nasser nationalizes the Suez canal.	Israel initiates a chemical weapons program in the mid 1950's.
	Israel makes a preemptive attack on Egyptian territories	In the early 1950's it initiates a larger program for the development
	while France and Britain invade the area of the Suez canal.	of biological weapons, focusing primarily on plague, typhus, and
		rabies, and the carriers of these diseases.
1958	Egypt and Syria merge into the United Arab Republic.	In the late 1950's Israel establishes a program for the
		development of nuclear weapons.
1961	Discontented with the merged nation, Syria withdraws	Egypt begins its development of chemical weapons in the mid
	from the United Arab Republic following a military coup	1960's, producing tear gas, mustard gas, and possibly nerve gas.
1963	Civil war breaks out in Yemen. It lasts until 1967.	Egypt intervenes in the Yemeni civil war, using its newly
		developed chemical weapons in several instances.
1967	President Nasser mobilizes the Egyptian army and
	blockades an Israeli port; in response, Israel preemptively	In 1968, Syria signs the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
	attacks Syria and Egypt. Jordan attacks Israel. In	Weapons and ratifies Geneva Protocol.
	the ensuing war, Israel occupies the Golan Heights, the	Israeli strategists begin a strategy of nuclear opacity. By 1970,
	Sinai peninsula of Egypt, the Gaza strip, and the West	it is widely accepted that Israel does have nuclear weapons.
	Bank of Jerusalem.	In 1972, Egypt and Syria sign the Biological and Toxin Weapons
		Convention.
1973	Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack on Israel on	Syria receives initial chemical weapons from Egypt in preparation
	Yom Kippur. Israel repulses the attack and takes more	for the attack on Israel. These are not used.
	territory from Egypt and Syria, which it withdraws from in
	1974 following negotiations and the establishment of UN
	buffer zones.
1975	Clashes between Lebanese Christians and Muslims
	escalate into civil war. Syrian troops are sent in to support
	the Muslims.
1977	Egyptian President Sadat visits Jerusalem and initiates
	peace negotiations with Israel.
1979	Egypt recognizes Israel in a formal treaty, opens trade
	relations, and recovers the Sinai peninsula.
1979	Israel invades Lebanon in an effort to destroy the
	Palestinian Liberation Organization's bases and forces
	operating out of Lebanon. It is unsuccessful and quickly
	withdraws.
1980	Iraq invades Iran over a territorial dispute.	Iraq uses chemical weapons.
1981
1981	Israel formally annexes Golan Heights	Israel, suspecting that Iraq is developing nuclear weapons at
		Osiraq, launches a preemptive strike.
1982	Israel invades Lebanon again, pushing back the Syrian	Syria begins a serious effort to develop chemical weapons to
	army already in Lebanon.	counter Israeli air superiority and nuclear weapons.
1988	Iraq-Iran War ends.
1990	Iraq annexes Kuwait.
1991	In response to Iraq's actions, an international coalition
	attacks Iraq by land and air, liberating Kuwait. Iraq	In 1992 an Israeli airliner carrying 50 gallons of a chemical used in
	launches Scud missiles at Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.	the manufacture of sarin gas crashes in Amsterdam.
1993	Israel and the PLO reach an accord on the withdrawal of	Israel signs the Chemical Weapons Convention.
	Israeli troops from the Gaza strip and Jericho.
1995	Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by a
	right-wing Israeli
1996	Israel is hit by a wave of suicide bombs, reducing public
	support for the peace process.	In 1998, Israel announces that it is reconsidering its policy of
2000	The breakoff of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations prompts a	nuclear ambiguity.
	new wave of suicide bombs, which the Israelis respond to
	with military strikes.