Tensions mounted again with the rise to power of Egyptian
President Gamal Abdel Nasser, a staunch Pan-Arab
nationalist. Nasser took a hostile stance toward Israel. In 1956 Nasser
nationalized the Suez Canal, a vital waterway connecting
Europe and Asia that was largely owned by French and British concerns. France
and Britain responded by striking a deal with Israel—whose ships were barred
from using the canal and whose southern port of Elat had been blockaded by
Egypt—wherein Israel would invade Egypt; France and Britain would then
intervene, ostensibly as peacemakers, and take control of the canal. In October
1956 Israel invaded Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. In five days
the Israeli army captured Gaza, Rafaḥ, and Al-ʿArīsh—taking thousands of
prisoners—and occupied most of the peninsula east of the Suez Canal. The
Israelis were then in a position to open sea communications through the Gulf of
Aqaba. In December, after the joint Anglo-French intervention, a UN Emergency
Force was stationed in the area, and Israeli forces withdrew in March 1957.
Though Egyptian forces had been defeated on all fronts, the Suez Crisis, as it
is sometimes known, was seen by Arabs as an Egyptian victory. Egypt dropped the
blockade of Elat. A UN buffer force was placed in the Sinai Peninsula.
Arab and Israeli forces clashed for the third time June 5–10, 1967, in what
came to be called the Six-Day War (or June War). In early
1967 Syria intensified its bombardment of Israeli villages
from positions in the Golan Heights. When the Israeli Air
Force shot down six Syrian MiG fighter jets in reprisal, Nasser mobilized his
forces near the Sinai border, dismissing the UN force there, and he again
sought to blockade Elat. In May 1967 Egypt signed a mutual defense pact with Jordan.Israel answered this apparent Arab rush to war by staging a sudden air assault, destroying Egypt’s air force on the ground. The Israeli victory on the ground was also overwhelming. Israeli units drove back Syrian forces from the Golan Heights, took control of Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and drove Jordanian forces from the West Bank. Importantly, the Israelis were left in sole control of Jerusalem.
The sporadic fighting that followed the Six-Day War again developed into full-scale war in 1973. On October 6, the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur (thus “Yom Kippur War”), Israel was attacked by Egypt across the Suez Canal and by Syria on the Golan Heights. The Arab armies showed greater aggressiveness and fighting ability than in the previous wars, and the Israeli forces suffered heavy casualties. The Israeli army, however, reversed early losses and pushed its way into Syrian territory and encircled the Egyptian Third Army by crossing the Suez Canal and establishing forces on its west bank.
Israel and Egypt signed a cease-fire agreement in November and peace
agreements on January 18, 1974. The accords provided for Israeli withdrawal
into the Sinai west of the Mitla and Gidi passes, while Egypt was to reduce the
size of its forces on the east bank of the canal. A UN peacekeeping force was
established between the two armies. This agreement was supplemented by another,
signed on September 4, 1975. On May 31, 1974, Israel and Syria signed a
cease-fire agreement that also covered separation of their forces by a UN
buffer zone and exchange of prisoners of war.On March 26, 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty formally ending the state of war that had existed between the two countries for 30 years. Under the terms of the Camp David Accords, as the treaty was called, Israel returned the entire Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, and, in return, Egypt recognized Israel’s right to exist. The two countries subsequently established normal diplomatic relations.
On June 5, 1982, less than six weeks after Israel’s complete withdrawal from
the Sinai, increased tensions between Israelis and Palestinians
resulted in the Israeli bombing of Beirut and southern Lebanon, where the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) had a number of strongholds. The following day Israel
invaded Lebanon, and by June 14 its land forces reached as far as the outskirts
of Beirut, which was encircled; but the Israeli government agreed to halt its
advance and begin negotiations with the PLO. After much delay and massive
Israeli shelling of west Beirut, the PLO evacuated the city under the
supervision of a multinational force. Eventually, Israeli troops withdrew from
west Beirut, and the Israeli army had withdrawn entirely from Lebanon by June
1985.
Hostility continued, however. On December 9, 1987, rioting broke out among
Palestinian Arabs living in the Israeli-occupied territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and in
Jerusalem. The Palestinian demonstrations and riots continued in the following
years and took on the character of a mass popular rebellion (known as the “shaking off”) directed against continued Israeli occupation
of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In 1993 Israel and the PLO reached an
agreement (known as the Oslo Accords) that involved
mutual recognition and envisaged the gradual implementation of Palestinian
self-government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip before a permanent peace
settlement. The process was fraught with difficulty, however, and violence in
the form of a second intifāḍah erupted in 2000. Violence ebbed and
flowed in subsequent years, sometimes reaching the level of full-scale war between
Israeli forces and Palestinian police and irregulars.1948 Arab-Israeli War
|
Date
|
15 May 1948 – 10 March 1949
(9 months, 3 weeks and 2 days) Final armistice agreement concluded on 20 July 1949 |
|
Location
|
Former Mandatory Palestine, Sinai Peninsula, southern
Lebanon
|
|
Result
|
Israeli victory; Palestinian Arab defeat; Arab League
strategic failure; Armistice Agreements
|
|
Territorial
changes |
Israel keeps area allotted to it by Partition Plan,
captures 50% of area allotted to Arab state, Jordanian occupation of West
Bank, Egyptian occupation of the Gaza Strip
|
|
Belligerents
|
|
|
1. Israel
|
Arab states:
1. Egypt 2. Jordan 3.Iraq 4.Syria 5.All-Palestine 6.Lebanon (Lebanon had decided to not participate in the war and only took part in the battle of al-Malikiya on 5–6 June 1948.) |
|
Before 26 May 1948:
1.Yishuv:
2.Haganah
3.Palmach
4.Irgun
5.Lehi
|
Irregulars:
Holy War Army Arab Liberation Army |
|
After 26 May 1948:
Israel Defense Forces
Minorities Unit
|
Irregulars:
Holy War Army Arab Liberation Army |
|
Foreign volunteers:
Mahal |
|
|
Commanders
and leaders
|
|
|
Politicians: 1.David
Ben-Gurion
Commanders: 1.Yisrael Galili 2.Yaakov Dori 3.Yigael Yadin 4.Mickey Marcus 5.Yigal Allon 6.Yitzhak Rabin 7.David Shaltiel 8.Moshe Dayan |
Politicians:
1.Azzam Pasha(Arab league)
2.King Abdallah(Jordan) 3.Muzahim al-Pachachi(Jordan) 4.Haj Amin al-Husseini(All Palestine govt.) 5.King Farouk I(Kingdom of Egypt) 6.Husni al-Za'im(Syria) Commanders: 7.John Bagot Glubb(Jordan) 8.Habis al-Majali(Jordan) 9.Fawzi al-Qawuqji(Arab league) 10.Hasan Salama (All Palestine govt.) 11.Ahmed Ali al-Mwawi(Kingdom of Egypt)
12.Muhammad Naguib(Kingdom of Egypt)
|
|
Strength
|
|
|
Israel:
29,677 initially rising to 117,500 by March 1949. This includes the entire
military personnel count—both combat units and logistical units
|
Egypt:
10,000 initially, rising to 20,000
Iraq: 3,000 initially, rising to 15,000–18,000 Syria: 2,500–5,000 Transjordan: 8,000–12,000 Lebanon: 1,000 Saudi Arabia: 800–1,200 Yemen: 300 Arab Liberation Army: 3,500–6,000. At maximum, not half of the forces of the Israelis but these numbers include only the combat units sent to the former mandate-territory of Palestine, not the entire military strength. |
|
Casualties and losses
|
|
|
6,373 killed (about 4,000 troops
and 2,400 civilians)
|
8,000–15,000 killed. An estimated
breakdown is 3000 Palestinians, 2000 Egyptians, 1000 Jordanians, and 1000
Syrians
|
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