26 January –
Irgun members kidnap a British intelligence officer two days before the planned execution date of the Irgun member
Dov Gruner.
27 January – Irgun members kidnap the British President of the district court of
Tel Aviv.
18 February – British Foreign Minister
Ernest Bevin announces that the United Kingdom has decided to give up its
mandate over Palestine and allow the United Nations to determine the country's future.
3 March – 13 people are killed in a raid on a British officer's club in
Jerusalem by the Irgun. Simultaneously, multiple other targets throughout Palestine are attacked by the Irgun.
4 May –
Acre Prison break: Irgun forces break through the walls of the
Acre prison and free 28 incarcerated Irgun and
Lehi activists. 214 Arab prisoners also escaped.
16 June – The
UNSCOP Committee, the Special UN Committee in charge of finding a solution to the conflict in Palestine, begins its work in Palestine.
11 July – The Exodus leaves France for Palestine, with 4,500 Jewish
Holocaust survivor refugees on board who have no legal immigration certificates to enter Palestine.
18 July – Following wide media and
UNSCOP coverage, the Exodus is captured by British troops and refused entry into Palestine at the port of
Haifa.
29 July – The British execute three
Irgun members captured during the
Acre Prison break. In response, the Irgun hangs the two
British hostages kidnapped eighteen days earlier.
16 November – The United Kingdom begins withdrawing its army troops from Palestine.[citation needed]
29 November – The United Nations approves
partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. It is accepted by the Jews, but rejected by the Arab leaders (See
[1][2]).
30 November – Following the announcement of the
Partition Plan, Arabs in Palestine react violently and fighting breaks out leading to the civil war which centered around the
Haganah and
Palestinian Arabs supported by the
Arab Liberation Army.
2–5 December –
1947 Jerusalem riots: The
Arab Higher Committee declares a strike and public protest of the vote. A crowd of Arabs marching to
Zion Square,
Jerusalem, are stopped by the British, and the Arabs instead turn towards the commercial center of the city, burning many buildings and shops. Violence continued for two more days, with Arab mobs attacking a number of Jewish neighborhoods. 70 Jews and 50 Arabs are killed.
30 December –
Haifa Oil Refinery massacre: Irgun militants hurl two bombs into a crowd of Arab workers from a passing vehicle, killing six workers and wounding 42, damaging the relative peace between the two groups in Haifa. Later that day, the Arab crowd breaks into the refinery compound, killing 39 Jews.
Haganah Ship Jewish State at
Haifa Port, October 1947
Meir Nakar (born 1926), Irgun member captured during the Acre Prison break, executed by hanging.
Yaakov Weiss (born 1924), Irgun member captured during the Acre Prison break, and Czech immigrant who saved hundreds of Jews from the Nazis, executed by hanging.