World History: Arab-Israeli Wars (1948-present)

In order to understand the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, one has to go back more than 3,000 years. Both these two groups have historical ties to the land they are fighting to control.

Ancient History of Israel

Jews

Around 3,000 years ago, Jewish tribes in 1300 B.C.E. settled down in the eastern Mediterranean region, called Judea. But, most of the Jews were forced to leave the land after repeated invasions, starting with the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. Finally, the Roman Empire destroyed their capital in 70 C.E. and renamed the region as Palestine. As a result most of the Jews left the region.

Arabs

In the 7^th century C.E., the Islam was founded. Six hundred years after the Jews left the region many Arab Muslims began to settle in the region. They also built a shrine directly above the Jewish site (known as the Dome of the Rock at present). In the 16^th century, the region came under the Ottoman Empire which lasted for nearly four centuries.

Anti-Semitism and Zionism

Even though the Jews got scattered throughout the world they remained attached to Israel through prayers, scriptures among others. With the rise of Nationalism as a concept in the 19^th Century, many Jews who felt oppressed with rising anti-Semitism (anti-Semitism is hostility and prejudice towards Jewish people) started to return to their homeland. This Jewish migration is called as Zionism.

Contention

The primary focal point of the returning Jews was their temple whose only surviving Western wall was located below the Arab Muslim’s holy shrine. This became a major point of contention between the Jews and Arab Muslims at that time.

World War I

In the World War I, the Ottoman Empire fought against the Allied Powers. Britain tried to woo both the Jews and Arabs by promising sovereignty if they helped the Allies win the war. The Hussein-McMahon (1915) correspondence recognized and supported the independence of Arabs in the region. Similarly, the Balfour Declaration (1917) supported a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.

Mandate of Palestine

With the victory of the allies and end of the World War I, Ottoman Empire was carved up into ‘mandates’ (non-permanent colonies). Britain oversaw the Mandate of Palestine. In 1922, Britain attempted to partition the mandate. It designated nearly 3/4^th of the mandate for Arab settlement. Britain created an independent Arab nation on the east side of the river Jordan called as Transjordan. The remaining 1/4^th  was made open for Jews. But Arabs also migrated into the Jewish portions from the neighbouring countries. The population increased rapidly in the remaining 25% of the land and both the Jewish and non-Jewish people kept on fighting to control the territory.

Conflict

With the rise of Hitler to power in 1933, the immigration of Jews increased in the region. Arabs, too, started to settle in the mandate from the surrounding countries attracted by the relatively prosperous economy.

The occurrence of a bloody Arab Revolt in 1936 made Britain to investigate and paved way for the first official two-state proposal. The peel commission constituted for the purpose recommended that about 20% of the remaining mandate should be reserved exclusively for the Jews, while the remaining 80% exclusively for Arabs. But both British government and Arabs rejected the recommendations of the commission.

Attainment of statehood by Israel

After the end World War II, Britain referred the question of Palestine to the United Nations. The UN approved resolution 181 divided the remaining land and created independent Arab and Jewish states. Hence, the modern state of Israel was created in 1948. The resolution also maintained Jerusalem as an international mandate. Though, Jews was unhappy over the allotment of unviable desert for them, they did accept the partition plan. On the other hand, the Arabs refused.

Arab-Israeli war of 1948

Shortly after the passage of the resolution, civil war broke out as the non-Jewish residents tried to prevent Israeli statehood. The troops from Arab states of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Transjordan (Jordan) supported the non-Jews in their resistance effort. Finally, Israel won the war. Even though the Arabs’ had superiority in the number of troops and firepower, they failed to put forth a coordinated war effort. Eventually, Iraq withdrew from fighting and the other Arab states were forced to enter into armistice agreements. In the dealings, Israel was able to take control of some of the land designated for Arabs. Jordan was able to take control of some of their territory known at present as the west bank and Egypt acquired the control of the Gaza Strip.

Refugee crisis of Palestinians

Back in1947, immediately after the announcement of the partition plan, a massive population exchange began in the Middle East. While 650,000 Jewish refugees from Muslim countries migrated to Israel, approximately 720,000 Palestinians fled from Israeli territory. Of late, the non-Jewish residents in the mandate began to call themselves as Palestinians. Out of the emigrated Palestinians, half of them were welcomed by neighboring Arab countries and the rest of them found themselves in the refugee camps. More importantly, the Palestinians never attempted to organize a government in the land designated to them by the UN.

Seeds for future conflicts

The obstacles for political peace in 1948 continued to be the obstacles in Arab-Israeli conflicts in the future as well. These factors were: rejection of the existence of the Jewish state by the Arab world; Israel’s philosophy of increasing military strength, its disregard for partition boundaries and its policy of conquering the additional territory whenever it could; and finally the Palestinian Arab refugee problem.

Suez crisis/Tripartite Aggression

In 1956, Egyptian President Nasser angered France and Britain by nationalizing the Suez Canal. It is to be noted that the France and Britain were previously controlling the shipping lanes. Israel too, was concerned about increasing Egyptian strength in the region. So, Britain, France and Israel secretly planned to attack Egypt. Israel launched the attack on Egypt in October 1956. While the Soviet Union took the side of Egypt, the US was not fully supporting its western allies. Finally, Britain and French forces withdrew in December following international pressure while the Israeli forces fell back in March.

Effects of the Suez crisis

• Egypt and Soviet Union strengthened their positions in the world. Soviet Union was able to strengthen its position in the Middle East.
• Egyptian President Nasser was hailed as a hero in the Arab world. Egypt got the right to operation Suez Canal, although it had to pay reparations.
• Israel was able to regain its access to the Straits of Tiran.
• France and Britain were humiliated and lost their international prestige.
• Eisenhower Doctrine: The doctrine provided funding and presidential authority to assist all the Middle East nations which are involved in fighting the Soviet influence.
• The first United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was created by the UN to police the Egptian-Israeli borders. UN peacekeepers remained in Egypt for nearly a decade until they were expelled by Nasser.

Six Day War of 1967

A plot made by the Egypt to destroy Israel backfired. Israel attacked Egypt and within 4 days it took control of Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. Convinced by the false reports of victory reported by President Nasser, Jordan and Syria agreed to strike Israel from their respective borders. Finally, within six days, Israel was able to destroy the forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

Effects of Six Days War

• Israel was able to recapture of Jerusalem and the Western Wall of their holy shrine in more than 2,000 years.
• Israel took possession of the Golan Heights from Syria.
• Victory of Israel united the Arab nations. They signed the Khartoum Resolutions, pledging that until Israel withdrew from the territories it acquired in the Six-Day War, there would not be any recognition or peace with Israel.

Yom Kippur War, 1973

After many failed attempts to take revenge for their 1967 defeat and repossession of the territory they had lost, Syria and Egypt planned an invasion of Israel on the Yom Kippur, the holiest Jewish holiday. The assault by the two nations along with the men, money, weapons sent by at least 9 Arab nations began on October 6, 1973. Finally, the war ended in Israeli victory. A ceasefire was put on place on October 25, 1973.

Effects of the Yom Kippur war

• Syria could not regain Golan Heights. Instead, it lost even more territories to the Israel.
• Arab oil producers unilaterally stopped oil shipments to the United States and some other Western European countries.
• The US, using shuttle diplomacy negotiated and led Israel to return most of the territory gained by it. However, only after a series of agreements, Israel eventually vacated the Sinai Peninsula in April 1982.

Camp David Accords, 1978

Following 12 days of secret talks, two framework agreements were signed between Egypt and Israel at Camp David on 17 September 1978. Out of the two, the second framework agreement (Framework for the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel) eventually led to the conclusion of Egypt-Israel peace treaty.

Egypt-Israel Peace treaty/ Land-for-Peace Deal

The Egypt-Israel peace treaty was signed on March 1979 following 1978 Camp David Accords. The main provisions of the treaty were mutual recognition, normalization of ties, and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and civilians from the Sinai Peninsula (Israel captured it during the Six Days War, 1967). Also, Egypt agreed to leave the Sinai Peninsula area demilitarized. The agreements also granted the right of passage for Israeli ships in the Suez Canal and made the Strait of Tiran and Gulf of Aqaba as international waterways. Most importantly, the agreement made Egypt as the first Arab state to officially recognize Israel.

The Palestine Liberation Organization

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was created by several Arab governments in 1964. Many independent groups such as the PLO, Fatah (secretive body which fought Israel without the help of the Arab League), and Hezbollah were created at different times to fight for the destruction of Israel and creation of Palestinian state. Yasser Arafat took over the PLO and became the first influential Palestinian leader. In 1974, Arafat grabbed the international attention over Palestinian demands by delivering a special speech in the United Nations General assembly (UNGA).

First Lebanon War

In 1982, the PLO members who were active in South Lebanon attacked various towns of Northern Israel and also shot dead the Israel’s ambassador to Britain. Israel launched retaliatory attacks on PLO. This conflict is known as the First Lebanon War. A new group called Hezbollah emerged in Lebanon in the aftermath of the war.

First Intifada

In 1987, Palestinians rebelled against the Israeli authority in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. These uprisings are known as the first Intifada. The uprisings finally came to an end after 6 years after the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.

Oslo accords, 1993

An agreement was reached between Israel and Palestine in Norway (1993). The outcomes of the Oslo accords are:

• Mutual Israeli-Palestinian recognition.
• Israel fully recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people.
• Creation of the self rule by the Palestinian authority in Gaza and part of the West Bank.
• Palestinians to renounce terrorism.

However, the Oslo and other solutions failed to buy peace in the region with both the sides pointing the other as the problem.

Camp David Summit, 2000

In 2000, the US took the initiative and invited both the sides to discuss peace at Camp David. According, to the US, the Israel’s offer to withdraw from most of the West Bank and recognize a Palestinian state with capital Jerusalem was rejected by the Palestinians. Palestinians wanted to have the whole of the West Bank. But, as per the negotiations, Israel was in control of 9% of the area in the west bank.

Second intifada

When Israel’s Prime Ministerial Ariel Sharon asserted that Jewish Temple Mount (holiest sites for both Jews and Muslims) would forever remain under the control of Jewish authority, a second Intifada was ignited. It resulted in causing heavy civilian causalities on both the sides.

Gaza blockade

In 2006, the radical Hamas party acquired the power of the Palestinian Authority. Western countries considered Hamas as a terrorist organization. So, Israel and Egypt after obtaining approval from UN imposed a complete blockade of Gaza. They involved in inspecting all the ships entering the area for weapons and other banned materials. As a consequence of the blockade, several underground tunnels were built to connect Gaza with its neighbours. Now, the tunnels have become the new point of contention between both the sides.

Latest developments

Though, the 2003 Roadmap for Peace and the 2007 Annapolis Conference was able to inspire confidence, none was able to overcome the historic obstacles. The peace did not last long. The year 2014 is being labeled as one of the deadliest in recent years with violence and killings.

Unless the original demands of the Palestinians are fulfilled, the Palestinian leadership won’t stop fighting. Similarly, Israel will also not concede the land demanded by the Palestinians until they feel safe. It is also unlikely to allow Palestinian refugees to stay in its territory as it fears that terrorists may enter its territory.