The Arab-Israeli Conflict 1945-1979

1917: The Balfour Declaration

The Decleration called for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine

The promises given to the Jews by the British reflected the real sense of betrayal felt by the

Arabs.

It appeared to the Arabs that Britain was following a less strict policy towards the Jews.

1920:

The San Remo agreement is signed.

The League of Nations gave France mandatory rights in Syria and Lebanon and Britain

mandatory rights in Iraq and Palestine.

The British Mandate 1922-45

May 1921:

Disturbance broke out in Jaffa (Palestine)

August 1929: The Wailing Wall:

Orthodox Jews attempted to attach a curtain to the Wall to separate men from women at

prayer

The Arabs saw this as a step to claiming control of the Area

The Arabs reacted with violence

Around 250 Arabs and Jews were killed

1935:

Muslim leader Izz al-Din al Qassam preached resistance andurged Arabs to prepare for

revolution

Izz al-Din al Qassam was shot and killed by British Soldiers

He became a martyr to the cause of Arab nationalism

1936:

Arab uprising/revolt.

Jewish immigration is increasing.

The Mufti of Jerusalem Al-Husseini called for resistance to the British and violence against

both the British and the Jews.

The Jews fought back through organizations such as Haganah and Irgun.

July 1937:

The Peel report is published concluding that partition into separate Arab and Jewish states

was the best solution to the problem.

The Peel report also recommended that the Palestinian-Arab state should be merged with

Transjordan + a restriction on Jewish immigration.

The Arabs opposed the Peel report and revolts continued.

May 1939:

British issued the White Paper proposing the creation of a single state in Palestine within ten

years.

Both Arabs and Jews rejected the White Paper.

The impact of WWII on the British Mandate in Palestine

May 1942:

The Biltmore Programme made by American Zionist supporters

The programme called for an immediate creation of a Jewish state in Palestine and an end to

the restrictions on Jewish immigration.

1945:

After the Holocaust the sympathy for the Jewish people grew, especially in the U.S

Europe was faced with a massive refugee problem which created pressure to allow increased

numbers of Jewish immigrants into Palestine.

The Jewish organizations Haganah, Irgun and Lehi formed the “United Resistance” with the

aim of creating and independent Jewish state as soon as possible.

The Jewish underground had succeeded in killing and wounding a number of British

soldiers.

In November the Anglo-American Committee of Enquiry was set up to examine political,

economic and social conditions in Palestine as they bear upon the problem of Jewish

immigration and settlement.

The US president Truman made a speech in which he supported an admission of another

100,000 Jews into Palestine. This angered the British government

In March the Arab League was established to promote Arab affairs and cooperation.

July 1946: The attack on King David Hotel:

Jewish organizations attacked the hotel killing British soldiers.

Explosives were hidden in the hotel by the extremist Jews.

The attack was condemned by the British government, the Jewish Agency and David Ben

Gurion.

Irgun accepted the responsibility of the attack but blamed the British for its failure to

respond to the warning. Irgun claimed that they have warned the British authorities to

evacuate the whole area.

As a consequence Britain hardened its attitude towards terrorist organizations which

worsened the relations between them and the Yishuv (a Jewish Community)

The British mandate came to an end and was handed to the United Nations as the events in

Palestine spiraled out of British control.

UNSCOP partition plan

May 1947:

UNSCOP was set up by UN

The Arabs felt that the commission was weighted against them and thus, they refused to

fully cooperate.

The Jews offered the commission full cooperation to promote their own interests.

July 1947:

Two events where to influence the status and decision making of the committee in Palestine

1) Two soldiers were kidnapped by Irgun and held as hostages. When the British executed

Jewish terrorists the hostages were hanged as a result by Irgun.

2) When the Haganah Ship arrived to the port of Haifa (Palestine) with Jewish refugees, the

British Royal Navy sent them back. Some of the Jewish refugees declared a hunger strike.

The British authorities forcibly removed some refugees from the ship and placed them in

person’s camps in Germany. As a result protests erupted. Britain’s reputation was worsened

and this affair played a significant role in the eventual recognition of a Jewish state in the

following year.

August 1947: The UNSCOP Report

The committee called for an end to the British Mandate in Palestine within two years and for

a partition into and Arab state and a Jewish state, because a partition was seen as the most

practicable solution.

The city of Jerusalem should be governed under international trusteeship.

The Arabs refused to accept this report whereas the Jews accepted it.

November 1947:

A two-thirds majority vote was needed in order for the UNSCOP report to be accepted.

The partition was accepted due to the necessary two-thirds majority vote.

33 countries accepted the report, 13 countries declined it and 10 countries abstained from

voting.

Both U.S and USSR supported the partition plan possibly because none of them wanted to

let go of the opportunity of gaining influence in the area.

The acceptance of the partition plan was met with outrage and riots in the Arab world.

The Arab leaders failed in fighting back due to lack of coordination and cooperation mainly

because they showed suspicion towards each other.

The Jewish Agency had a strategy known as the “Plan D” stating a need to gain control of

vital areas and to defend their borders from attack.

The Israeli view of Plan D: A defensive arrangement to only be used when Israel was

attacked.

The Palestinian view of Plan D: A plan of ethnic cleansing (here, the Palestinians).

The Arab states and the Arab League proclaimed a Jihad against the Jews which once again

had turned into a failure.

April 1948: The Deir Yassin massacre

A number of Arabs were killed by Jewish paramilitaries in Deir Yassin.

The Arabs wanted revenge. They attacked and killed 77 medical personnel in a convoy.

1948: Palestinian Diaspora:

The massacre had encouraged the Palestinians to flee and become refugees. Many

Palestinians had already left in 1947.

Within a short time it became an Israeli policy not to allow the Palestinians to return to their

homes. The UN called for the return of the Palestinians to their homes and for compensation

to be paid for those who chose not to return.

A proposal in Lausanne was presented to allow the return of Palestinian refugees conditional

on acceptance that Israel would keep the territory gained in 1948.

The Arab states rejected the proposal.

UNRWA set up camps in 1950 to cope with the refugees.

The War of Independence (The civil war)

May 1948:

The state of Israel was proclaimed. The president was going to be Chaim Wizmann and the

prime minister was to be David Ben Gurion.

On the same day neighboring Arab countries invaded Israel

In the end of 1948 the Arabs had suffered a crushing defeat.

The consequences of the war:

- Military defeat split the Arab League. The Arab countries blamed each other for the

setbacks.

- Jordan gained territory and annexed the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

- A balance of power had shifted from British influence to American influence.

There were two wars in this period:

1) From mid-May until June 11th where a truce was signed with the Jordanian King

Abdullah and the Egyptian army. Jordan’s forces were occupying parts of Jerusalem

whereas the Egyptian army halted in the Negev desert.

2) The UN Security Council sent a Swedish representative Count Bernadotte was sent to

Palestine with a proposal to halt the fighting and call for more consultations between the

two sides. He was assassinated by members of the Jewish organization Lehi, because he

was seen as a pro-Arab.

January 1949:

Armistice negotiations began in Greece. An agreement was signed a month later.

Economic development of Israel

1950:

The Law of Return was passed confirming the right of every Jew to settle in Israel

Within 30 years Israel became an industrial economic power in the region providing its

citizens with a standard of living unparalleled by its neighbors.

1952:

The Citizenship Law was passed granting immediate citizenship to Jewish immigrants.

Israel faced many economic problems. There were few natural resources and imported raw

materials were needed in order to survive.

There had been little development of light industry.

Oil and water became an issue between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Israel was reliant on outside help and received American loans which aided the agricultural

development, advance transport, infrastructure and building.

October 1953:

Two raids

1) A raid killing 2 Israelis resulted in the Israeli attack on the village of Qibya (Jordan).

2) A raid in Gaza which was an Egyptian military base killed several Egyptian soldiers. The

raids made it impossible for the countries to be on good terms .

The Suez Crisis

1954:

In Egypt a new president came to power which was Gamal Abdul Nasser. He was an

important key figure in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Gamal Nasser was a nationalist

April 1955:

The building of the Aswan Dam began. It was a symbol of a new Egypt.

At first the British and Americans said they would supply the money but because of the

Suez-crisis they withdrew their help.

The World Bank accepted to lend Egypt the money but then a lot of strings would be

attached.

Russia offers a loan which Nasser accepts.

The Cold War had moved to the Middle East. It meant that U.S and Britain were getting

anxious because of USSR’s involvement.

May 1956:

Nasser offers diplomatic recognition to Communist China which alienated the US.

US president Eisenhower agreed with Britain and France that Nasser should be removed.

One way of achieving this was not to follow through with the loans for the dam project.

July-October 1956:

Nasser announced that he would nationalize the Suez Canal.

The Suez Canal was internationally owned by France and Britain. It allowed passage for

everyone.

Nasser’s nationalization project shocked the British.

A British military option to respond Nasser was at first rejected. Therefore, they moved on

to diplomatic moves.

Britain involved US and France. They did not involve UN because of Russia’s seat and a

possible veto on the Security Council.

October 1956:

Top-secret meetings were held in Paris producing a plan for the Israeli army to invade

Egypt, where the British and French would intervene to stop the fighting and then occupy

the Canal Zone and remove Nasser.

In late October Israeli forces attacked Egypt starting the second Arab-Israeli war.

November 1956:

The war lasted less than a week

An Anglo-French ultimatum followed calling for both sides to withdraw.

Egypt rejected the call and appealed to UN. The rejection led to an attack on Egyptian

airfields by British and French aircraft. The attack destroyed much of their air force.

Britain and France landed their troops in the Canal Zone. They were both condemned across

the world for their actions.

An American resolution was passed calling for a ceasefire which was accepted by Britan

and France a few days later.

The results of the Suez war:

Britain and France:

- The French Fourth Republic collapsed

- The British Prime Minister Anthony Eden resigned

- Britain withdrew from Africa.

US:

- Actively brought pressure to bear both at the UN and economically selling sterling and

holding up oil supplies to Europe.

- The US was brought into the Middle East as the British and French prestige suffered in

the region.

USSR:

- The Suez Crisis had enabled USSR to portray themselves as defenders of the Arab cause

against Western imperialists.

- Russian influence grew

- USSR broke down the power of the West in the Middle East.

Israel:

- They had militarily defeated Egypt

- They had taken Gaza and the most parts of Sinai.

- The support of the US was maintained.

Egypt:

- Nasser retained control of the Suez Canal.

- In the eyes of the Arabs Nasser had won.

The emergence of PLO

1958:

Egypt and Syria merged creating UAR

1961:

UAR collapses because some Muslim traditionalists opposed Nasser.

UAR nationalized the basic industries, made social welfare programmes and improved the

basic rights of peasants.

1964:

PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) was established

1967:

PFLP believed that the Arab leaders were failing their cause and that more extreme

measures were needed.

The Six Day war

May 1967:

USSR provided false information to the Arabs about Israeli mobilization.

Nasser closes the Straits of Tiran

UN forces withdrew from Sinai. Israel was now vulnerable

June 1967:

Israeli jets destroyed the air forces of Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria.

Another mass of Palestinian refugees was a result of the Six Day War

USSR lost prestige because their Arab allies had been defeated by Israel.

Israel seized Jerusalem and the West Bank.

UN sponsored a ceasefire which came into effect.

Israel became the strongest military power in the Middle East

Nasser resigned but swept back into office due to popular demand.

The role of peace negotiator fell to UN.

Jordan allies with Nasser because there were many Palestinian refugees in Jordan that

supported him.

The Jordanian King did not trust Nasser but still he allied with him because he did not want

to create unrest in Jordan if he did not ally with him.

1968:

Israeli forces attacked the headquarter of the Palestinian organization Fatah located in the

Jordanian town Karemeh.

Arafat’s men fought back and triumphed. Arafat was seen as a hero to the Arabs.

1970: Black September

Under the leadership of George Habash PFLP hijacked five civilian airliners and landed

three of them in Jordan.

The aircrafts were blown up. The blown up gained the media’s attention which was what the

hijackers wanted.

PFLP demanded the release of political prisoners jailed in Israel and elsewhere. Some

governments (including Britain) agreed.

Arafat condemned the actions of the hijackers but only because he was under pressure

PLO was forced out of Jordan by Jordanian forces. They set up new bases in Lebanon

Nasser dies by a heart attack. Anwar Sadat comes to power

July 1972:

15,000 Russians left Egypt as Sadat wanted to remove the Russian advisors.

Sadat seeks relations with the US since USSR had not been able to put enough pressure

on Israel. Therefore, Sadat moves away from USSR

Sadat also made an agreement with Syria that they would go to war with Israel in the

near future.

September 1972:

A Palestinian group called “Black September” took 11 hostages from the Israeli

weightlifting team at the Olympics in Munich.

German authorities tried to rescue the hostages. The hostages ended up being killed along

some of the Palestinians and a German.

1973: The October war

Egypt and Syria surprise attacks Israel on the day of Yom Kippur (A Jewish holiday).

The aim was to force the Israelis to do something to resolve at least some of the issues in

the Arab-Israeli conflict but also because they wanted to show that attacks could still

happen and thus, Israel should not feel “safe.”

The Arabs are defeated again.

On October 27th the Arabs accepts an armistice.

The World leaders started to try to work out a solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Sadat became a hero to the Arabs because he had brought back discussions about the

Arab-Israeli conflict.

The UN passes the resolution 338 calling for a ceasefire. Egypt, Syria and Israel agreed

terms.

1973: The oil crisis

The Arab countries cut off oil supplies to the world market

Oil became expensive

The US was keen on talking to Sadat because of the Oil Crisis. He was the way into the

Arab world.

1974:

The Arab League recognized PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people.

Arafat addressed the General Assembly urging the UN to help the Palestinians regaining

their land. He was holding an olive branch symbolizing peace.

Arafat became an influential figure in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Peace-talks in the Middle East begin.

Sadat wants peace with Israel because he wants better relations with the Western world

because the USSR had proven to be unreliable but also because Israel still occupied the

Sinai-peninsula.

An agreement with Israel would mean that Sadat did not have to worry about an

aggressive neighbor which would give him more time and money to improve the

situation in Egypt, because the country was suffering from economic decline.

July 1976: The Entebbe raid in Uganda

An Air France flight was hijacked by members of PFLP from Athens and flown to the

Ugandan town Entebbe.

They demanded the release of Palestinians held in Israeli jails and elsewhere in Europe

and started to threaten to kill the Jews on the flight.

Israel sent a team to rescue the hostages and attack the hijackers.

The hijackers were all shot and three hostages died. One from the rescuing team was

killed as well.

November 1977:

Sadat had been invited to the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) where he delivered a speech.

He openly reaches out to Israel.

Sadat offered Israel recognition and permanent peace based on agreements which would 1)

restore Arab lands 2) recognize the need for a Palestinian homeland and 3) provide secure

boundaries.

After this speech he gained popularity in the world but hated by the Arab states.

Israel’s president Begin was open-minded towards Sadat’s proposal.

September 1978: The Camp David agreements

Negotiations between Egypt and Israel starts

The Egyptians wanted a return of their occupied land and an Israeli withdrawal at least to

the pre-1967 borders.

For the Israeli government an agreement with Egypt would remove the danger of their most

powerful enemy and secure the southern borders of Israel. Therefore, surrendering Sinai was

worth the price.

Egypt and Israel had difficulties agreeing with each other.

US president Jimmy Carter stepped in to help the process and an agreement was signed on

September 17th 1978 in the White House containing two parts.

The agreement was seen as a betrayal by the Arab world.

Egypt was met with open hostility and removed from the Arab League.

The Camp David Accord

1) The first part: A Framework for peace in the Middle East

- The first part dealt with the West Bank, Gaza, the implementation of the UN resolutions

and a resolution of the Palestinian problem in all its aspects but excluding Jerusalem.

2) The second part: A framework for the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty between Israel and

Egypt

- The second part was more straightforward.

- Israel agreed to leave Sinai, restore diplomatic relations with Egypt and secure southern

borders with Egypt.

March 1979:

A formal treaty was signed

Israel did not keep their promises. They still continued to build settlements and refused to

grant full autonomy to the Palestinians

Concepts

Arabism: The Pan-Arabism movement promoted Arab nationalism. The movement was created after

the rise of Nasser. Arabism was about self-determination and independence although there were fundamental

disagreements regarding forming the best government for the Arab people.

Pan-Arabism attempted to unite the Arab people in a union of nation-states but it did not succeed. This was a major factor in the survival of a Jewish state.

Zionism: Zionism is a Jewish movement that arose during 19th century It is a direct response to anti-Semitism Theodore Herzl is the father of political Zionism Zionism developed among intellectuals which eventually became more radical forming

Jewish organizations. The Zionist wanted to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine