Yegor Lanovenko

IB History Paper 1 Revision Notes The Arab-Israeli Conict 1945-79

Yegor Lanovenko

Background
The Jewish Diaspora, Arabism and Zionism The Diaspora is the dispersal of the majority of the Jewish population. Palestine has always presented an important religious significance for both the Jews and the Arabs. From the 16th century onwards, Palestine was part of the vast Ottoman Empire. In the late 19th century, an upsurge of anti-Semitism stimulated the emergence of Zionism, a movement committed to the creation of a Jewish nation-state. The founder of the movement was Theodor Herzl, who was convinced it had to be in Palestine. The Jewish Agency in Palestine (a Jewish shadow-government) set up the Jewish National Find which helped Jews buy up land from Arab farmers. The late 19th century also saw an increase in Arabism, who were committed to gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire. The Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916) Devision of the Middle Eastern states into the mandate system between Britain and France; Palestine was to be governed internationally. The Balfour Declaration (1917) The British government was desperate to secure US support in the war. It declared that the British government supported the establishment of Palestine as a national home for the Jews. Palestine came under British control in 1920. The tensions between the Arabs and the increasing number of Jews escalated in the 1920s. 1918 - 60 000 Jews, 500 000 Arabs. 1928 - 150 000 Jews, 600 000 Arabs 1939 - 450 000 Jews There were revolts throughout the 1920s, but the biggest Arab Revolt was in 1937-39. In 1938 - 1600 Arabs, 290 Jews and 69 British soldiers killed. The Irgun and The Lehi were the Jewish terrorist organizations. The British White Paper (1939) stated: A maximum of 10 000 Jews a year permitted to immigrate Independence of Palestine within 10 years The Biltmore Program (1942) was the program drawn up by Ben Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, stating: Called for establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine Unlimited Jewish immigrationa

Yegor Lanovenko

After the War, Britains main concern was to secure the oil of the Middle East region, this meant conciliating the Arabs. The Arab League (1945) was established consisting of seven Arab states, which was opposed to large-scale Jewish immigration. President Truman was very sympathetic to the plight of the Jewish Holocaust survivors, he called for the admittance of these Jews into Palestine. The British Governments restrictive policies on immigration and the refusal to admit the 100 000 survivors resulted in joint terrorist attacks from the Irgun and Levi. 10 out of 11 bridges were destroyed by that. 1947 Britain hands the problem to the United Nations. UNSCOP is set up to investigate the future of Palestine. The report: The Partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states Jerusalem to be an international city under UN control The Arabs totally rejected the plan because it gave 56% of the Palestine to 30% of its population (Jewish). 600 000 Jews, 1 300 000 Arabs. Britain withdraws in May 1948.

Civil War, 1947-1948

The Course of the War The Zionists were well led, with many soldiers who have been trained during the Second World War. The Haganah was transformed into a field army of 15 000 soldiers. Plan D - gaining control of the area designated by the UN as part of the Jewish state. The Deir Yassin Massacre (April 1948) During the Zionist offensive, one of the worst atrocities of the war was committed. Between 200 and 300 people were slaughtered, many of them women and children. It occurred after the Haganah had arranged a non-aggression pact with that village. This led to a massive exodus of Arabs from the villages who feared the same treatment. 300 000 Arabs left by May 1948. Israel later claimed that there was no policy of driving out the Palestinian Arabs. They claimed that since they left voluntarily, they had no right to return and reclaim the land. The Zionists bought arms from CZ. They gained the upper hand. Israel Proclaimed Israel was proclaimed on the 1st of May, 1948.

The Arab-Israeli War, 1948-49

Yegor Lanovenko

15th of May Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq declared war on Israel. Arab forces: Weak, divided. No central control. King Adbullah pursued his own interests. Israeli Defense Force, IDF, had 30 000 - 40 000 Arab states armed forces amounted to 23 000 Syria and Lebanon contributed little troops At first the forces were evenly balanced. A truce was signed in the summer of 1948, during which Ben Gurion renews his supplies of heavy artillery and aircraft, again mainly from CZ. After the truce the Israeli forces quickly gained the upper hand. Tens of thousands of Arabs were forcibly expelled and hundreds then died from exhaustion. By the end of the war in 1949, Israeli forces controlled 78% of Palestine. The UN fixed a temporary frontier along the lines that were fixed by the beginning of the ceasefire negotiations. Demilitarized areas were set up on the Egyptian and Syrian borders of Israel. Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip Transjordan occupied the West Bank, including the Old Jerusalem. The war was a massive humiliation for the Arab world. The Palestinian Arabs still refer to it as the Catastrophe. The Palestinian refugees During the Course of the Civil War 1947-48 and the War of 1948-49, an estimate of 730 000 Palestinian Arabs fled into the remains of the Arab Palestine and neighbouring Arab countries, mainly Jordan. 430 000 in refugee camps in the Gaza Strip Jordan took around 350 000. It was the only state to grant them citizenship. The Absentee Property Law (1950) The Israeli government ordered the destruction of 80% of the Arab villages inside Israel in 1940s and 50s. In 1950, they passed the Absentee Property Law, meaning that the Arabs who fled had forfeited their land to Israel and were now absentees. This constituted over 80% of the Israeli land. The UN said that all refugees should be allowed to return, and those who could not should be compensated. But it never happened. Israel The Law of Return (1950) is a law guaranteeing citizenship to any Jew who wants it. In the first 3 years of Israels existence its population increased by more than 100%, with 665 000 new immigrants. The Law of Return was later amended to be subject to selection. Israels economic growth has been dependent on foreign aid, especially on the investments from the USA. Total aid of US by 1977 was 2 995 000 000$.

Yegor Lanovenko

The Suez Crisis

Nasser and the Crisis At the end of the war, Britain still had 80 000 troops in the Suez, controlling it. Nasser came to power in 1954 as the President of Egypt. His main project was to build a massive dam at Aswan on the River Nile. He negotiated loans from the US. The West grew more and more dependent on Middle Eastern oil, as in 1951 80% of Europes oil came from the Middle East. Nasser looked to bring to an end western imperialist influence in the Middle East. There was a treaty signed in 1954, which promised the British would remove the troops from the Canal, which gave Nasser a booster at home. Nasser also bought arms from CZ worth of 300$. Nasser was hated by Israel for Promoting the fedayeen raids by Palestinian Arabs based in Gaza Closing the Suez Canal to Israeli shipping Israel bought a lot of new weaponry and aircraft from France in 1956. In July 1956, the US withdrew its financial support from the Aswan dam, because Nasser recognized Peoples Republic of China. A week later Nasser responded by nationalizing the Suez. In Egypt and elsewhere his defiance of the West was received enthusiastically. Nasser promised every shareholder would be compensated and that he would operate the canal efficiently. Jordan did not join The Baghdad Pact (1956). Eisenhower signalled against using force to re-take the canal, but they failed to consult America. Together with the British and the French, Israelis recapture the canal in 7 days. Britain and France were forced to withdraw because of their hesitance which allowed UN to react. 1957, Eisenhower promised help to any Middle Eastern state that wanted help against Communism. Israel humiliated Egypt by its offensive, it demonstrated its military strength. Nasser emerged as a hero of the Arab world and drew closer to the USSR. Economic help for the Dam was revived under Kennedy.

Pan-Arabism
Nasser created the emotional euphoria of pan-Arabism that united the Arabs, but it was too week to hold them together. The United Arab Republic, UAR (1958)

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Syria, following a coup, joined with Egypt. It collapsed in 1961 because of the divisions between the Arab world, because Syria felt its interests were being backed to those of Egypt. Also, the Yemen Civil War in 1962. Nasser sent military support immediately. 80 000 troops until 1970. At the Cairo Conference in 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was created. Before that, Fatah was responsible for organizing the fedayeen raids over the border which caused the 1956 War of Suez. Nasser did not like Fatah. Prior to the UAR, Nasser set up the Voice of the Arabs, a radio station broadcasting all the way from Cairo into all the Arab states, constantly promoting pan-Arabism. The PLO (1964) Created at the Cairo conference, it also created the Palestine Liberation Army, funded by the Arab states and the refugees taxes. Jordan and Lebanon refused to host the PLO bases, fearing Israeli reprisals for the raids from their territories. From 1965, Syria sponsored a campaign of raids by the Fatah. In 1965, 39 attacks on Israel by the Fatah. They were launched from Jordan, without Jordans agreement.

The Six Day War of 1967

Causes Main cause are the fundamental issues that were left unresolved by the War of 1948-49 and the tensions created by the Suez Crisis in 1956. Humiliated Arab states sought revenge Countries in the region were stocking weapons supplied by the superpowers, which created more tension Short term causes: The escalation in the attacks by the Fatah in 1965-67. The border clashes between Israel and Syria, especially in the air battles above the Golan heights in 1967. Course The superpowers tried to restrain Egypt and Israel after Egypt had sent tanks into the Sinai Desert and closed the Straits of Tiran. Jordan signed a defense pact with Egypt, placing its troops under Egyptian control. The plan for the Israeli army was by the Chief of Staff. In June 1967, in one day most of Egypts air force was destroyed while still on the ground. By the evening, the IDF were into the Sinai desert. Israel was not accepting the UN ceasefire demands until it took control of the whole of the Sinai and the Golan Heights of Syria, which used to be a demilitarized zone.

Yegor Lanovenko

Outcome Israel controlled a territory 3 times the size of its pre-war state. 10 000 Egyptians and 800 Israelis dead. The number of Palestinian refugees increased dramatically: new 400 000. Israels population now held 1.1 million Palestinian Arabs. Nasser could not bear the stress and died soon in 1970. The Israeli government ordered the bull-dozering of hundreds of Palestinian homes and villages in order to clear space in front of the Western Wall of Jerusalem to be able to absorb it whole. The bull-dozering became a common tactic. Jewish settlements started to be built on the West Bank in 1967, in 1967-73 - 20 new settlements. After the war, the Arab nations came up with the Three Nos: No peace, no recognition, no negotiations with Israel. The War of Attrition 1968-1970 With no official war, there were constant artillery shelling between Egypt and Israel in Sinai. The UN The UN came up with the Resolution 242, which was to settle peace in the area, it also called for just treatment of the refugees. It promoted withdrawal of Israel from the occupied territories, but upon Jewish lobbying, the was lost. Israel, Jordan and Egypt accepted the Resolution 242. The Rogers Plan (1969) was another plan to settle the situation. Although not anyhow accepted, it was to ceasefire the War of Attrition. The superpowers kept arming Israel and Egypt, although cautious of a new conflict that that might lead to. The Fatah became even more influential among the Palestinian Arabs. As the raids continued after the Six Day War, Israel launched an attack on the PLO base in Jordan in Karameh. 300 Fatah fighters died, but they inflicted heavy losses upon the IDF, which made their prestige grow and they showed the vulnerability of the IDF. Arafat in the PLO Presidency 1969 Yasser Arafat became the President. The Fatah continued its operations.

Yegor Lanovenko

There were two more organizations established: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine PFLP Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine PDFLP They radically different in methods. PFLP launched many hi-jacking attacks to promote their cause, including: 1970 Swiss air blown up 1970 3 planes hi-jacked Black September, 11 Israeli athletes murdered at the Munich Olympics in 1972 In 1970, the PLO was removed from Jordan, having been attacked by the army of Jordan, as King Hussein radically disagreed with their methods. Black September. It moved to Lebanon.

The Yom Kippur War 1973

The main cause was that the fundamental issues causing the Arab-Israeli friction were left unresolved in the settlements after the Six Day War. Egypt and Syria wanted to return the lands captured in the war of 1967. Sadat became the President of Egypt. He was intending to get Sinai back by any measures. There were proposals by Jarring, a UN ambassador, but Israeli rejected any indirect communication. Sadat expelled the USSR personnel in 1972, but that allowed him to obtain more weapons and aircraft from the USSR. The building of settlements by Israel continued, by 1973 - 44 settlements in the captured territories. Egypt and Syria form an alliance in 1973. The War IDF became very confident after their success of the 1967. They placed only 40 soldiers by the Suez Canal. The attack on the day of Yom Kippur surprised the IDF and the Egyptians were on a very successful offense. However in 4 days Israel had recaptured all of the Golan again. US sent more weapons. OPEC led by the Feisal of Saudi Arabia raised old prices by 70% to pressure the West. When the US gave aid to Israel, OPEC went for full scale embargo on exports of oil. Ignoring the UN call for ceasefire, Israel continued its stunning advance and cut off the Egyptian 3rd Army. Lasted for approximately 1 month.

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The Outcome The IDF had its troops on the West Bank of the Suez Canal and also close to Damascus. 2,700 IDF soldiers killed, costed 7 billion$. The Arab oil weapon Since the West was so dependent on the Middle Eastern oil, the ban on exports by OPEC lasted until 1974. The prices trebled in that period. Middle East oil made up 37% of the Wests oil. Henry Kissinger wanted to settle the issue. Shuttle Diplomacy. He favoured discussions with Middle Eastern protagonists opposed to multi-party talks. Sinai 1 and Sinai 2 said that Israel should withdraw from the Suez Canal. Further withdrawals. This agreement allowed Egypt t reopen the canal and rebuild some settlements. The relations between Egypt and Syria deteriorated dramatically. Kissinger mustered up a Syrian-Israeli agreement in 1974. Arafat gained the observer status in the UN for the PLO. Many UN resolutions were passed. They did little however to realistically improve the Palestinian situation. Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978 and 1982 because of the continued attacks from Lebanon by the Fatah and the PLO. Carter did much for peace in the Middle East in 1976. He invited them to Camp David in 1978 which resulted in the 1979 Washington Treaty: It ended the state of War between Egypt and Israel Israel agreed to a staged withdrawal from the Sinai, which happened in 1982 Peace had only been established with one Arab state. The Golan heights occupation continued and Israel soon annexed them. No real improvements for the Palestinians.