Israel and The Arab World

How have Israel and the Arab states been in conflict?

Israel (Born May 14, 1948)

• Arab - Israeli War of 1948 = March 1949

  • On May 15, 1948: Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon invaded Israel

  • Israel won

    • United Nations Partition of land for Palestinian State never came into existence

    • More than 600,000 Palestinians fled (refugees)

    • Egypt tooo control of the Gaza Strip

    • Transjordan annexed the West Bank

Suez Crisis (1956)

• Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized (took over) the British - controlled Suez Canal

• Israel, Great Britain and France attacked Egypt and won

• United States and Soviet Union influenced the invading powers to leave Egypt (surprising considering the U.S and the S.U were in the Cold War - 1946 - 1989)

Six - Day War (June 5-10, 1967)

• Egypt and its Arab allies prepared for confrontation with Israel

• Israel was proactive and attacked airfields in Egypt, Iran, Jordan and Syria = Israel fought on the ground too

• Israel won

• Israel gained control of Jerusalem, Sinai Peninsula (given back to Egypt in 1979), Golan Heights and West Bank

Yom Kippur War (October 6-25, 1973)

• Egypt and Syria surprised attacked Israel

  • President of Egypt = Anwar Sadat

  • Prime Minister of Israel - Golda Meir

• Ended in cease - fire

• Borders basically stayed the same

Terrorism

• Modern terrorists look at the Arab failures in these wars as God’s anger toward the Arabs for modernizing and forsaking Islam