II. The Creation of the Israeli State

State vs. Nation

  • A state is a political entity with defined borders
    • It can be composed of one or more nations
    • It may or may not reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of the population
  • A nation refers to a group of people who share common backgrounds
    • Cultural, religious, linguistic, or historical
    • e.g. Kurds are a nation but don’t have a state

Zionism

  • Zionism is the movement for the self-determination and statehood of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland in Palestine
    • Both an ideology and a nationalist movement
    • Zion is the biblical term for the land of Israel and Jerusalem
    • This idea came to popularity in the 1900s
    • Eventually supported by Britain
  • }}Theodor Herzl, 1896}}
    • Consolidated Zionist thought into an organized political movement
    • Advocated for international recognition of an independent, sovereign Jewish state in the land of Israel
  • Following WW2 and the Holocaust, international support for the creation of a Jewish state

Balfour Declaration

  • British Government’s declaration of support for the creation of a Jewish state
    • Near the end of WW1 (1917)
    • }}Signed by Arthur Balfour, British Foreign Secretary}}
    • Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire at the time
  • Significance
    • The first time a major foreign global power expressed support for establishing a Jewish homeland
    • Gave Zionists legitimacy
    • Marked the beginning of British involvement in Middle East politics
    • Promised Jews a state in exchange for opposing Ottoman rule
    • Had long-term consequences for the Middle East (the creation of Israel and its subsequent wars)
    • Caused major controversy

UN Resolution 181

  • Also known as the “partition plan” for Palestine
  • Passed by the UN General Assembly
  • After WW2, the world sympathized with the Jews
    • Confirmed international recognition of Jewish sovereignty
    • Called for the partitioning of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states
    • Jerusalem put under international control
  • The first time an international community tried to resolve the Israeli-Arab conflict
    • Thought partitioning would solve everything
    • Displaced many Palestinians
    • Ideological and religious conflict
  • Supported by 33 countries including USA and USSR
  • Opposed by primarily the Arab world

Palestine

  • The population of Palestine:
    • 1.3 Million Arabs
    • ~600k Jews
    • Large amounts of Jews had emigrated to Palestine as a result of antisemitism in Europe
  • Concerns regarding the partition
    • Arabs did not want to live under a Jewish-majority government
    • American Defense Department was concerned that America supporting the Zionist movement would anger oil-rich Arab nations

First Arab-Israeli War (1948-1949)

  • Also known as the War of Independence
  • May 14, 1948: the day Israel and Palestine were both created, five Arab nations invaded Israel
    • State of Israel vs. Coalition of Arab Nations (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq)
  • War lasted 10 months
  • Despite being severely out-numbered and lacking in weapons and military training, Israelis won
    • Israelis attributed their win to God being on their side
  • After the war, Israel increased its territory by 37% over the UN-allocated land and halved what was to be the Arab state
    • 1950: Jordan annexed the West Bank and Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip
    • The decision not to accept partitioning by Arab states ultimately led to the loss of land and a massive refugee crisis
    • Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs fled from Israel
      • Lived in UN refugee camps for decades
    • Hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees were expelled from neighboring Arab nations and fled to Israel

David Ben-Gurion

  • 1st prime minister of Israel
    • Also served as Minister of Defense and a member of the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament)
  • Born in 1886 in modern-day Poland
    • Emigrated to Palestine in 1906
  • Prominent Zionist leader who is credited for his effort as the founder of the modern state of Israel

Jerusalem

  • The holy city of Abrahamic Religions
  • Capital of both Israel and Palestine
    • Due to contention, some countries recognize Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel
  • Originally planned as an UN-controlled area
    • Effectively unified with Israel in 1967, officially in 1980
  • Specific quarters of Jerusalem

Gamal Abdel Nasser

  • Leader of Egypt in the 1950s
  • Supported Arab nationalism and opposed the existence of Israel
  • Seized the Suez Canal in 1956, which had been controlled by France and Britain
  • Britain, France, and Israel launched a war against Egypt, the Suez War of 1956
    • The three nations eventually withdrew, and the Suez fell into Egyptian hands
  • UN created an emergency force to prevent the domination of major global powers

The Six-Day War (1967)

  • June 5-10, 1967
  • A brief but significant conflict between Israel and all the Arab neighbors
    • A decisive Israeli victory
  • Israel felt increasing threats from neighbors and was threatened to be wiped off the map
    • Launched a surprise attack on Egypt, wiping out its Air Force and controlling the Sinai Peninsula
    • Then turned to the West Bank (under Jordan) and the Galan Heights (under Syria)
  • Significance
    • Israel annexed the Old City of Jerusalem from the UN
    • Effectively putting the entire city under Israeli control in 1967
    • Millions of Palestinians now lived under Israeli control
    • Mostly the West Bank
    • Israel proposed to return the Galan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula if they would recognize Israel as a state
    • Arab response: “No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations”
    • “Keep your gains, we’ll fight you for it later”

Yom Kippur War (1973)

  • October 6, 1973 (on Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day of the year): Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated surprise attack against Israel
  • Golda Meir, Israel’s first female Prime Minister, had little time to prepare but counter-attacked
    • Took back everything Egypt and Syria took over, pushed Arab forces out again
  • Weeks later, a cease-fire was negotiated, but tensions remained

OPEC

  • In 1960, several oil-producing states formed OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to control the price of oil
  • During the Yom Kippur War, some OPEC nations announced large increases in the price of oil to foreign countries
    • At the time, inflation was taking hold and cars had bad milage, so America began looking to Asia for car options (Japan)
  • This led to oil shortages and serious economic problems in the West
  • This is why America wants to search for new sources of oil: to not depend so much on Middle East relations

Camp David Accords

  • President Jimmy Carter invited the leaders of Egypt and Israel to negotiate a peace deal to his “cabin” at Camp David
  • The treaty saw complete Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula in exchange for Egyptian recognition of Israel as a state
    • At the time, many other Arab countries still refused to recognize Israel

PLO

  • In 1964, the Egyptians led the formation of the Palestine Liberation Organization to represent Palestinian interests
  • PLO believed that the Palestinian Arabs should have a state in the Palestine region
    • Called for the destruction of Israel
    • Believed armed conflict was necessary to give the Palestinians a state
    • In 1972, the PLO killed 11 Jewish Olympians
    • PLO’s acts were televised, seen as a terrorist organization
  • At the same time, a guerilla movement called al-Fatah, headed by PLO political leader Yasser Arafat, began to launch attacks on Israel
    • These attacks continued for decades

Oslo Peace Accords

  • During the 1980s, Palestinian Arabs, frustrated by their failure to achieve self-rule, grew more militant
  • This militancy led to a movement called intifada, or uprising, concentrated in the territories controlled by Israel since the Six-Day War
  • Eventually, in the Oslo Peace Accords of 1993, an interim agreement was signed for future negotiations
  • Israel and the PLO agreed that the Palestinians would control a semi-independent area known as the Palestinian Authority
  • In return, the PLO recognized Israel and renounced terrorism and militancy