2020 in Israel

Incumbents

• President of Israel: Reuven Rivlin
• Prime Minister of Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu
• President of Supreme Court of Israel: Esther Hayut
• Chief of General Staff: Aviv Kochavi
• Government of Israel: Thirty-fourth government of Israel-Thirty-fifth government of Israel

  Events

January

• 1 January –
• * Prime Minister Netanyahu asks for parliamentary immunity from the corruption charges against him.
• * Jordan receives its first shipment of natural gas from Israel.
• 5 January – Greece and Israel sign an agreement to build the longest underwater gas pipeline in the world.
• 6 January –
• * The Leviathan gas field begins full operations.
• * Ukraine withdraws from UN Committee on Palestinians.
• 7 January – Israeli firm Armis is bought for over $1 billion by Insight Partners.
• 23 January – The Fifth World Holocaust Forum is held in Jerusalem; President Reuven Rivlin is among many of the world leaders who deliver a speech at this occasion.
• 27 January –
• * The 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp is commemorated around the world; Israeli President Reuven Rivlin attends the ceremony at the site of Auschwitz, along with the President of Poland and both leaders condemn the current resurgence of antisemitism.
• * President Rivlin meets with President Andrzej Duda of Poland, and discusses the role of individual Poles in the Holocaust.
• 28 January –
• * At a White House press conference, US President Donald Trump formally unveils his Israeli–Palestinian peace plan, "Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People", alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• * President Rivlin visits Germany, meets with ordinary schoolchildren, as well as German officials including Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
• 29 January – The Naama Issachar affair ends with a pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin and her release from a Russian prison.

  February

• 11 February – Israel announces it will install a new water system for use in maximum-security prisons, after finding out that some prisoners are wasting water on purpose.
• 12 February – The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights publishes a database of 112 business entities involved in Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It includes entities like Airbnb Inc., Bank of Jerusalem, Tripadvisor Inc., and Motorola Solutions Inc.
• 21 February – The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel is confirmed after a female citizen tests positive for coronavirus after return from quarantine on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

  March

• 2 March – The 2020 Israeli legislative election takes place; incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc of right-wing and religious parties again win 58 seats, three short of the majority in the next Knesset required to form a government.
• 20 March – An 88-year-old Holocaust survivor in Jerusalem is the country's first fatality of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel.

  April

• 20 April – The leaders of the two largest parties in the Knesset, Benny Gantz and Benjamin Netanyahu, announce that they have reached a coalition agreement to form the next government of Israel; Netanyahu will be Prime Minister until October 2021, after which Gantz will become prime minister unless Netanyahu should leave the premiership before then.

  May

• 17 May - The 35th government of Israel is formed.

  July

Scheduled

• 20-22 October — the 38th World Zionist Congress will be held in Jerusalem

  Ongoing

• Investigations involving Benjamin Netanyahu
• COVID-19 pandemic in Israel

  Notable deaths

• 7 January – Peter Wertheimer, 72 wind-instrument musician.
• 7 January – Emily Landau, Israeli arms control researcher and analyst.
• 12 April – Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron,, Israeli rabbi, and Rishon LeZion from 1993 to 2003
• 26 April – Gideon Patt, Israeli MK and Likud minister
• 21 June – Zeev Sternhell, Israeli academic and historian

  Regional topics and issues

• 2019–20 Persian Gulf crisis
• Syrian Civil War
• Arab protests

  Country overviews

• Israel
• History of Israel
• History of modern Israel
• Outline of Israel
• Government of Israel
• Politics of Israel
• Years in Israel
• Timeline of Israel history

  Related timelines for current period

• 2020
• 2020 in politics and government
• 2020s