1993   Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat agree to a peace deal in which Israel agrees to withdraw troops from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and the PLO agrees to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. The two men publicly shake for the first time before cheering crowds on the White House lawn.

1994   Israel and Jordan sign the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace, which resolves a territorial dispute and normalizes relations between the two countries.

1995   Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated in Tel Aviv, Israel by Yigal Amir, a radical, right-wing Israeli citizen.

1997   Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after Israel turns the city over to Palestinian control.

1997   Two Israeli Defense Forces helicopters collide over She'ar Yashuv in northern Israel, while awaiting authorization to cross into Israel's "Security Zone" in Lebanon. The crash kills 73.

2000   Pope John Paul II becomes the first Roman Catholic pontiff to visit Israel.

2000   Israel completes its withdrawal of troops from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.

2005   Israeli troops begin forcibly evicting Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip as part of the Israel Unilateral disengagement plan.

2005   Israel completes the first phase of its settler withdrawal plan after the last Jewish settlers are evicted from 25 settlements in the Gaza Strip

2005   Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls for Israel to be "wiped off the map" at a conference in Tehran, Iran

2005   Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, resigns from Likud party and announces his intention to form a new political party devoted to peace in the Middle East.

2005   Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke.

2005   In Israel, the trial of Tali Fahima ends in a plea bargain.