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The state of Israel is concurrently one of the oldest and yet one of the youngest nations in modern politics. In 70 AD the Romans sacked the Kingdom of Israel, but the Israel of today was created as recently as 1948. Since this time, the tiny nation has become a giant player in Middle East politics and is currently a key actor in the Middle East crisis with the Palestinians. But the heated clashes between the Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs are not new. Territorial issues over the Golan Heights, water rights in the Jordan River, administration authority in Jerusalem and self-rule in the Occupied Territories have been reoccurring themes in Israel’s foreign policy since the nation’s inception.
The Kingdom of Israel was created by King Saul and perpetuated by his successors David and Solomon. The area chosen as the Hebrew State was the area of Palestine in southwest Asia, known today as the Middle East. The Palestine region and its neighbors were overwhelmingly Arab and resented King Saul’s creation of a Jewish state on their homeland. But not until the Romans invaded the area in 70AD were the Jews finally expelled. Jews fled in all directions looking for refuge but remained in contact with one another due to their religious bonds.
Over the years, Jews slowly re-established in the Palestine area, but the region was firmly under Arab control. By the 19th century, however, Jewish immigration increased dramatically for two specific reasons: anti-Semitism and Zionism. As communities around the world began to reject growing Jewish populations, the Jewish Diaspora began to unite in a nationalistic movement called Zionism. The one overriding goal of the Zionist movement was the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. The Zionists received their first support from the British. The British, however, were less interested in the creation of Israel then the control of the strategically important Palestine region. During World War II, Great Britain sought the help of allies whom were more sympathetic to Jews than the native Arab population in Palestine. Britain lent their support to Zionism only to woo allies, such as the United States, to its side. Britain’s political maneuvers worked and at the end of World War II, the League of Nations granted Britain a mandate to control Palestine.
The Jewish Diaspora regarded the mandate as total support for their Zionist movement and waves of immigrants poured into the Palestine region. Although the British controlled the region, the British government was content to let both the Jews and Arabs govern their own domestic affairs. As anti-Semitism soared, particularly in Europe and Russia, Jews flooded the region upsetting the balance between Jews and Arabs. Both groups felt entitled to Palestine and the Arabs began to revolt. To quell a revolution, Britain halted immigration to the region, but the Zionist movement smuggled in many Jews escaping Hitler’s tyranny. The Zionist movement centered its activities in the United States and repeatedly pressed for creation of their own nation.
At the end of World War II, Britain was in no position to exercise her mandate over Palestine. Referring the Palestine problem to the United Nations, the UN advised the partition of the area into Jewish and Arab areas with Jerusalem remaining under international control. The Jews agreed knowing that no better deal existed. The Palestinian Arabs protested the partition saying that they were paying for the sins of Europe. In other words, the Western nations were responsible for Jewish genocide and to assuage their guilt they had given into the unreasonable demands of the Zionists.
The British mandate expired in 1948 and the Jews of Palestine took advantage of the opportunity to unilaterally declare their statehood. The state of Israel was created and dedicated to liberty, justice and peace with their Arab neighbors, but territorial boundaries has not yet been fixed. Israel’s first Prime Minister was David Ben-Gurion and the first President was Chaim Weizmann. The United States and the USSR became the first nations to officially recognize the country. The Palestinian Arabs, however, refused to accept a Jewish state on their territory and violence erupted. To calm the violence and aid their Arab neighbors, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq invaded, but were repelled by Israel’s new security forces. A treaty was eventually signed that established Israel’s first borders. It was during this time that Egypt and Jordan gained control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Subsequently, Palestinian Arabs fled Jewish controlled regions for these new Arab controlled areas, but their flight did not signify their acceptance of the Jewish State.
By 1949, Israel began functioning as a true state with a parliament, security forces and a growing infrastructure. Israel became a member of the United Nations in 1949. They also accepted unlimited Jewish immigration to the region. By the end of 1951 some 687,000 Jewish immigrants had arrived to join the thousands already living in the region. The Palestinian Arabs at the same time only number 167,000 total (“Israel (country).” Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2000). The heavy immigration would have hurt Israel’s economy if it weren’t for the aid from the United States and Europe. Again, the Arabs saw the infusion of money as a means for Western nations to assuage their guilt. Israel used the money to improve its military.
The situation worsened in the 1950s when Arab nations boycotted Israel. Egypt refused Israel entry into the Suez Canal and even supported the organization of the Palestinian Liberation Organization as a means to enflame Arab nationalism in the area. By 1956, Israel invaded Egyptian controlled areas of Palestine and seized the Gaza Strip and the Sinai area. The UN brokered peace later forced Israel to return the areas. Tensions did not decrease, however, and during the Six-Day War, Egyptian forces were defeated and Israel officially annexed the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Because these areas were under Arab control, the Arabs populated these regions. Under Israel’s control, the areas became known as the Occupied Territories and many Arabs fled once again from Jewish control. Israel united all of Jerusalem under their authority, pleasing many of the Jewish citizens, but the Occupied Territories caused divisions among the Israeli populace. Some Jews sought peace and withdrawal from the territories. Others chose a hard-line approach to never cede territory to the Arabs. To support this view, the right-wing Likud party was formed in 1973.
The Camp David Accords, negotiated by US President Jimmy Carter, was a turning point for possible peace in the region. Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in return for Egypt’s recognition of the state of Israel. Between the 1980s and the 1990s, the terrorist reputation of the Palestine Liberation Organization was tempered by the creation of the Palestinian National Authority headed by Yassar Arafat. Under Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin, the Gaza Strip was put under the control of the PNA as was portions of the West Bank. Some areas were maintained under joint control. The peace process was ruptured, however, when an assassin claiming it was his religious duty to prevent Israeli land from falling into Arab hands shot Rabin.
Since Rabin, various Israeli leaders have made the peace process central to their political platform. Currently, Ariel Sharon is the Israeli Prime Minister and has made numerous trips to the negotiation table to consider the possibility of a Palestinian state. The major points of disagreement continue to be Jerusalem and the Occupied Territories. The Palestinians consider East Jerusalem their true capital and demand full rights to govern it as such. Israelis find East Jerusalem sacred and refuse ceding important ground to Arabs. The Palestinians also request that Israel continue to pullout from the Occupied Territories. This withdrawal has occurred gradually under former Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanhayu, Ehud Barak, and currently Ariel Sharon. The withdrawal was supposed to take place in three stages, but the third phase remains incomplete, due to the current intifada.
Although a small and relatively new country, Israel dominates a region where its citizens are the religious minority. Strong support from the United States coupled with the highly affluent Jewish settlers and its Diaspora means Israel has little reason to negotiate during peace talks. But the plight of the Arab minority and images of young Arabs being overwhelmed by the Israeli army could shift international sympathies away from the Jews. Other powerful Arab countries are also considering stronger support of the near-vanquished Palestinians.
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