For nearly seven decades global foreign policy and international relations has been concerned with conflict between the government of the State of Israel and the Arab inhabitants of its surrounding neighbors as well as the ancestral Jewish homeland itself. Since before the state was formed, contention and hostility, as well as open bellicosity has dominated the political landscape in this small sliver of the world, fueled by religious tensions and upheld by a foundation of distrust and a history of violence. The conflict centers on the clash of Zionism, the ideology of an independent Jewish state in the ancestral Jewish homeland, and Arab nationalist which emerged with vigor at the end of the 19th century. Zionists believe that the territories held by Israel at present constitute land that has historically belonged to the Jews and has at various times in their history been stripped away by force. Arab nationals believe that in a Pan-Arab context and a Pan-Islamic context these territories belong to the Palestinian –Arabs and are Muslim lands. As such, from the moment of the expiration of the British Mandate in Palestine these groups have been at war. The Jewish people declared themselves citizens of an independent state while the Arabs, originally under the banner of the League of Arab States, dedicated themselves to be in a state of war with the Jewish Council that has proclaimed its independent for the supposed reason of restoring security and establishing order. It was in this moment that the world changed and headlines across the globe would until this day often read of the calamity and bloodshed characterizing what has become the longest lasting conflict of the 20th, and now 21st, centuries.
Though the Arab-Israeli conflict has often been fought in the boardroom as part of peace negotiations, it is important to note that more often than not naked forces and armed conflict have served as a backdrop to negotiations or else have simply been the only factors in operation. The Israeli War of Independence was one such episode.
On May 14, 1948 Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq invaded the formerly British Mandate under the banner of the Arab League. The Israeli Defense force successfully repelled the attack and continued a counteroffensive resulting in an overall extension of the previous borders of the mandate as stipulated by the United Nations Special Committee On Palestine partition. The boundaries included the mandate territories west of the Jordan River. Despite the increased land holding and an overwhelming Israeli victory, the conflict became increasingly complex as over 700,000 Palestinian refugees flooded across the borders under promises of reunification of the land under Arab leadership.
The influx of refugees had dramatic consequences. Firstly, the returned refugees joined the Arab forces and staged paramilitary operations out of local villages. This resulted in the accidental deaths of over 100 innocent civilians as Israeli forces fought to relieve roadblocks established by these armed groups. Many died from gunfire while others fell to hand grenades used to clear buildings during the ensuing urban warfare. Perhaps the most famous example of such an occurrence is the events at Deir Yassin where many women and children died. The assaults here were condemned internationally and by local Jewish and Arab religious and ley leadership. These events combined with a now much larger hostile domestic Arab population whose ire, stoked by these deaths, undermined lasting peace efforts.
The War of Independence ended with the 1949 Armistice Agreements. In the wake of the war, Arab countries began campaigns of discrimination and violence against their Jewish residents, particularly in Syria and Aden where hundreds were massacred. Across the Arab world Jews lost rights, privileges, property and often their lives.
Egypt & Pan-Arabism under Nasser
In the middle of the 20th century the movement for Pan-Arabism found its champion in the person of Gamal Abdel Nasser. In 1952, Nasser, as young and popular army colonel led the successful Egyptian Revolution would overthrew King Farouk I and established a new secular rule. In June of 1956 Nasser ascended to the presidency of Egypt where the tension drawn from his neutrality in regard to the Cold War led to withdrawal of funding for the Aswan Dam project. In retaliation, Nasser closed the Suez Canal and nationalized the Suez Canal Company, thereby instituting an effective siege on trade routed through the Mediterranean. This led to the first armed conflict between Egypt and Israel of significance where the United Kingdom, France, and Israel dispatched troops to capture the Sinai Peninsula and force Egyptian capitulation; however international pressure forced this coalition to stand down, consequently greatly increasing Nasser’s status as an Arab leader.
Despite several set-backs, chiefly the dissolution of the United Arab Republic, a unitary socialist state combining Syria and Egypt under Nasser’s leadership, he remained a prominent leader in the fight against Israel. Suffering a lack of political security as a result of failed efforts of socialization and modernization, Nasser turned towards Israel as exterior enemy at which to direct the ire of the people.
The Six Day War
On May 19, 1967, citing intelligence reports of Israeli forces mounting for offensive actions, Egypt expelled UN observers from Sinai. Nasser then ordered the closure of the Straits of Tiran and announced on May 27, 1967 that Egypt’s objective was “the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight.” By the end of the month a mutual defense apct had been signed with Jordan and Egypt and deployed into mobilized units across UN lines, massing troops on the southern Israeli border. On June 5, 1967 the Israeli Air Force launched a surprise attack on Egypt destroying the vast majority of its air forces while still on the ground and destroying the air forces of Jordan, Syria, and Iraq in turn.
The Israeli’s won an astounding victory in the Six Day War that had two primary results: firstly, Israel not only survived by emerged as the victor holding lands far in excess of what previously had been held to include the now hotly contested regions of the Golan Heights, east Jerusalem, the Temple mount and Western Wall, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the Sinai Peninsula which has since been restored to Egypt. The second major effect was that Nasser lost face with the Arab people and his position as the undisputed leader of the fight against Israel would never recover. Not only had he failed to secure a victory but he had also been summarily defeated, leaving the Arabs far worse off than when they started.
The Three No’s and The War of Attrition
Following the war, the Arab leaders of the world me in Khartoum to discuss their future plan for contending with Israel and its mounting authority and power. They decided to issue a statement of unity based on three negative proclamations asserting that there would not be and would never be peace with Israel, recognition of Israel as a state, or negotiation with Israel.
As noted above, the all-out assault on Israel from the combined might of Arab forces in the region was a catastrophe. In response, Egypt launched a War of Attrition from 1969 until Nasser’s death in 1970. The objective of the war was to force an Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai. Egypt began long-range artillery operations against Israeli targets and used commando raids and bombing runs to harass Israeli forces. The war ultimately favored the Israelis who lost 721 people, one naval destroyer, and between fourteen and sixteen aircraft. The Egyptians lost closed to 3,000 people, multiple naval vessels and dozens of aircraft. Upon Nasser’s death, Anwar Sadat took over as Egypt’s leader and ended the war of attrition to prepare for the Yom Kippur war that was to take place three years later. The interim period saw a complete lack of willingness from Arab leadership to negotiate for a lasting peace.
The Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War which began on October 6, 1973 and lasted until October 25, 1973 was the last full scale war between Israel and Egypt. Under the leadership of Anwar Sadat, Egypt and Syria launched a joint surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. The nature of the attack and the incredibly surprise gained over the Israelis resulted inheavy initial Israeli losses. The Israeli Defense Forces took roughly three days to mobilize their strength as they were forced to fight a two front war with Egypt invading from the Sinai and Syria moving in from the Golan. By the third day of the war, Israel had mustered its forces and forces a stalemate with Egypt and pushed the Syrians back to their pre-war territories. Israel sustained heavy losses to equipment of personnel which the Israeli Ambassador to the US Simcha Dinitz informed the US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had been unexpectedly very high. On October 9, US President Nixon ordered Operation Nickel Grass, an American airlift to provide Israel with weapons and munitions to replace war-making materials that had been expended or destroyed. It has been stipulated that this was authorized so as to prevent Israel from using nuclear arms to turn the tide of the war. US cargo planes began arriving on October 14 by which time the northern counter-offensive was progressing well, IDF forces approaching the outskirts of Damascus. The American airlift allowed Israeli forces to more freely expend their munitions knowing that replacements were en route.
Simultaneously, Egypt and Syria received airlifts from the Soviet Union with total materials delivered reaching over 75,000 tons. The Yom Kippur War fast became a satellite Cold War struggle between the US and the Soviets. By the time the war turned to favor the Israelis, the USSR threatened military intervention, catalyzing the US to secure a ceasefire.
Peace in the Middle East
Following the Yom Kippur War, the ability of the Arab nations to wage a successful conventional war against the Israelis seemed to have been proven nil. Israeli military strength was prodigious and continued to grow. In addition, the US was clearly a supporter of the Israel as a regional power and support for the USSR seemed insufficient to change this reality. As a result, several Arab nations agreed to peace talks in violation of the Khartoum proclamations.
Egypt
In the late 1970s the US served as the broker for peace between Egypt and Israel. President Jimmy Carter led the now famous Camp David Accords which ultimately settled terms on a lasting pact of non-violence. The Israelis agreed to return the Sinai Peninsula while the Gaza Strip would remain under Israeli control pending the formation of a Palestinian state. Under this agreement the Straits of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba were made open to Israeli shipping, as was the Suez Canal.
Jordan
The Jordanian followed the lead of Egypt and signed an agreement with Israel to end hostilities and engage in mutual cooperation. This agreement had significant undertones of peace between Israelis and Palestinians pursuant to a two-state solution.
Peace with Palestinians
The crumbling of the struggle against Israel under Nasser led the Palestinians to look towards other major regional leadership for guidance in subverting Israeli power. Among these leaders was the recognized terrorist organization known as the Muslim Brotherhood. Operating using terrorist tactics, Palestinians ventured on their own violent operations such as the Lod Airport Massacre and the Munich Olympic Massacre, both occurring in 1972. In 1976 a group of Palestinian and European terrorists hijacked a plane with over 100 Jewish hostages and flew them to Entebbe, Uganda where a daring raid by Israeli commandos under the command of Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, brother of the current Israeli prime minister, ultimately liberated them.
The First Intifada and the Oslo Accords
Civilian armed assaults evolved over the next decade with an escalation in terrorist action. In 1987 this took the form of the First Intifada, beginning in the refugee camp at Jabalia and moving through Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestinians began carrying out strikes, boycotts, vandalism, and demonstrations. Violent protests began shortly thereafter with shootings, bus hijackings, bombings, and kidnappings. The Israel military responded in force, much to the condemnation of the international community. In effort to end the violence, the Palestinian Liberation Organization renounced the use of violence and the recognized Israel. In return the PLO was invited to sit at peace talks which took place in Oslo, Norway.
At Oslo, the Israelis and Palestinians came to agree to the Oslo Accords which saw the recognition of the legitimacy of both the PLO and Israel, and the use of terrorism was renounced. In 1995m the second Oslo Accords were signed which detailed the governance of the West Bank and laid a foundation or any future peace negotiations.
The Second Intifada
Dissatisfied with the progress of peace negotiations towards securing an independent state for the Palestinians, including possession of east Jerusalem, militant groups began the Second Intifada in 2000. The violence began on September 29, 200 when soon-to-be Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ascended the Temple Mount and stated that the Holy Site would forever remain in Jewish hands. With tensions already high from the failed Camp David Summit in July of the same year, Palestinians looked to affect a tangible change independently of negotiation. Violence reached new heights with the frequency of suicide bombings and attacks increasing dramatically. Of the more than 1,000 Israeli casualties, nearly 80% were innocent civilians.
Israeli forces set up a broad system of checkpoints and roadblocks, along with strict curfews, to stem the tide of violence which included suicide bombings, Qassam rocket attaches, mortar fire, lynching, stabbings, shootings, and kidnapping of civilian and military personnel. The practices of the IDF have seriously limited shootings and suicide bombing; however rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli cities have persisted over the last five years with Israel launching a counter-offensive against the instigating group responsible for these attacks, the now notorious Hamas, with Operation Cast Leas in December of 2008.
Recent Developments
Despite the continuing violence, the potential for peace remains. In a recent move, the Arab League has sweetened its 2002 peace offering wherein it demanded a complete withdrawal from territories captured in 1967. The Qatari Prime Minister spoke in April 2013 of the possibility of no-exact, mutual agreed upon land swaps between the Israelis and Palestinians, indicating some level of latitude and flexibility that the Arab leadership had previously been unwilling to embrace. Seemingly then the long history of violence and conflict need not necessarily end in more tragedy. The cost of this war has been enormous in both blood and capital. The flexibility and understanding of two peoples, staunchly divided will be needed to put forth the possibility of a healthy, mutual beneficial future.
