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History
of the State since 1948
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
From May 1948 until July 1949, the newly declared Jewish State
waged what seemed to be a war for survival against impossible
odds. Out-manned, out-gunned and nearly friendless, the survival
of the fledgling state was unlikely. The trained armies of Egypt,
Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and contingents from both Saudi Arabia
and Iraq, together with an untold number of reinforcements, battled
against a make-shift army composed of sabras (native-born Israelis)
and refugees, many just arriving from European DP camps.
While the odds were vastly against them, the Jewish fighters had
two major advantages: the desire to survive and unity. With victims
of the Holocaust streaming in with tales of horror and despair,
the Jews understood that independence was their only option. If
they were defeated by the Arab nations, they would be massacred,
and those who survived would have no place to go. And while the
Arab nations were unified in their hatred of Israel, they fought
amongst themselves, each seeking to expand its own territory.
Battling
for every dunam of land, the Israelis slowly drove back the Arab
armies, overcoming the impossible odds and breaking the siege
on the roads.
In July 1949, armistice agreements were signed with Egypt, Jordan,
Lebanon and Syria. At the end of the war, the borders of the State
of Israel encompassed a slightly larger territory than originally
mapped out by the UN partition plan, but the city of Jerusalem
was divided between Israel and Jordan.
While the fighting was over, there was no real peace. The Arab
nations refused to recognize the State of Israel. In the divided
capital of Jerusalem, gun shots often rang out. The captured Jewish
quarter of the Old City was laid to ruin as the Jordanians destroyed
synagogues, schools, homes and even cemeteries. The holy Western
Wall was rendered inaccessible to all Jews.
POPULATION
SHIFTS
Certain
of their victory in the war, the attacking Arab nations encouraged
the Arabs living within Israel to flee, telling them that the
Jews would surely massacre them, and assuring them that after
the Zionists were defeated they would have priority in acquiring
the Jewish lands. Many hundreds of thousands of Arabs believed
their comrade's propaganda and fled. When the Arabs lost the war,
these Arabs were now without a home. Lebanon, Syria, Jordan...all
refused to take them in and declare them citizens. Instead, they
created refugee camps, vowing that they would soon disgorge the
Zionist enemies and "drive them into the sea."
But the Arabs who fled Israel during the War of Independence were
not the only ones who suddenly found themselves displaced. An
almost equal number of Jews who had been living in Arab countries
now found themselves regarded as enemies in their own countries.
Driven from their homes, these Jews were resettled in Israel.
For
the next decade, Israel continued to grow. The population constantly
increased by a flow of Jews from around the world. Life in Israel
was not easy. Basic amenities were looked upon as luxuries, and
constant infiltrations by Palestinian Arab terrorist groups called
"Fedayeen" took the lives of over 1,000 Israeli citizens.
1956-
THE SINAI CAMPAIGN
During
the early 1950s, on top of the continued Fedayeen attacks, Egypt
disrupted Israeli trade by blocking shipping routes in the Red
Sea and through the Suez Canal. At the same time, Egypt nationalized
the Suez canal, angering the French and English.
At the end of October 1956, Israel launched the Sinai Campaign,
capturing the entire Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula. Two days
later, France and England joined the battle. By early November,
the campaign was over, Egypt was humbled and an uneasy truce prevailed.
At the insistence of the United States and the UN, Israel withdrew
from Gaza and Sinai. UN troops were stationed on the Egypt-Israel
border, but the Egyptians continued to hinder Israeli shipping.
1967
- THE SIX DAY WAR
In
1967, military movements throughout the Arab nations surrounding
Israel made it apparent that a major Arab military attack was
imminent. Egypt ejected the UN peace-keeping forces that had served
as a buffer at the Israel-Egypt border, and blocked Israeli shipping
in the Straits of Tiran, an action Israel had warned would lead
to war. At the same time, infiltration attacks increased on the
Syrian border at the Golan Heights and large troop movements in
Syria alarmed the Israeli Defense Force. Throughout the Middle
East there was an increase in troop movements and anti-Israel
rhetoric. Soldiers arrived in Jordan from Iraq, Algeria and Kuwait.
Using diplomatic channels, Israel tried to re-open the international
shipping routes to their vessels. The previously pledged support
by allies, France and Britain, evaporated, and the United States
was unable to create an international force to pressure Egypt
to back down. Faced with a major international challenge and surrounded
by increased troop movements in enemy countries, Israel launched
a pre-emptive attack on June 5, 1967, swiftly capturing the Gaza
Strip and Sinai Peninsula. Ignoring Israeli pleas not to join
the war, Jordan launched heavy artillery attacks on western Jerusalem
and Tel Aviv. Israel responded with a hard defensive push and
gained control of all of Judea and Samaria (also known as the
West Bank). When the Syrians attacked from the north, Israel fought
back and succeeded in capturing the Golan Heights from which the
Syrians had been launching terror attacks since the creation of
the State.
The
war ended on June 10th, again without any official peace. The
State of Israel had added to its territory the Sinai Peninsula,
the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the West Bank, all areas
from which there had been constant attacks against Israel's civilian
population.
Perhaps the greatest moment in the 1967 war was the unification
of Jerusalem. On June 7, 1967, for the first time since 1948,
Jews stood before the holy Western Wall and were free to pray.
Since the unification of the city, Jews, Christians and Muslims
have all had open access to the holy sites of the ancient city.
1973
- THE YOM KIPPUR WAR
Despite
the noted increase in movements of Egyptian and Syrian troops,
the Israeli Defense Forces deemed the situation secure enough
to allow the majority of Israeli soldiers to return home and spend
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, with their families.
When
the Syrians and Egyptians attacked on the holiest day of the Jewish
year (October 7, 1973), the Israelis were taken by surprise, which
nearly cost them the war. The Egyptians and Syrians were supported
by troops from other Arab nations as well as extensive training
and arms from the Soviet Union. What was originally a regional
Mid-East conflict, became a battle ground for Cold War issues
as the Soviet Union backed Egypt and Syria, supplying them with
airlifts of weapons and advisors. At the very last moment, in
response, the United States, sent Israel the military replacement
parts it needed to recover from its initial losses. Israel eventually
struck back and recovered, but only after suffering extraordinarily
heavy losses.
Technically,
the war ended on October 22, 1973, but fighting continued on the
Egyptian-Israeli front. When the cease-fire went into effect,
Israel had captured an additional 165 square miles of territory
from Syria, and had encircled the Egyptian Third Army on the west
bank of the Suez Canal. Egyptian forces held two areas of Israeli
territory along the east bank of the canal. Israel, Egypt and
Syria all held prisoners of war. After months of diplomacy, Israel
withdrew from the area it seized from Syria during the 1973 war,
in addition to some area gained in 1967, as well as from parts
of the Sinai. Prisoners of war were exchanged.
THE
BEGINNINGS OF PEACE
The
visit of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in November 1977 was a
monumental moment in Mid-East history. Sadat's two-day visit,
at the invitation of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, began
a process that ended two years later at Camp David, Maryland,
when, through the good offices of American President Jimmy Carter,
a peace treaty was brokered. It was the first time in history
that an Arab nation recognized the State of Israel. As a result
of the treaty, Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
LEBANON
In the late 1970s, southern Lebanon became a formidable launching
zone for terrorist attacks against Israel. The continued attacks
became untenable and all diplomatic resources failed to secure
peaceful living conditions for the residents of Northern Israel.
In 1982, Israel could endure no more, and entered Southern Lebanon
to do battle with the Palestinian Liberation Organization. While
numerous cease-fires were arranged in the 1980s and 1990s, each
time fighting broke out again, and the security of Israeli citizens
was continually at risk. In June 1985, the majority of Israeli
troops were withdrawn from Southern Lebanon. A small residual
Israeli force and an Israeli-supported militia remained in Southern
Lebanon in a "security zone," which Israel established
to serve as a necessary buffer against attacks on its northern
territory.
In the summer of 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak unilaterally
withdrew Israeli troops from Southern Lebanon. Hundred of members
of the Southern Lebanese army, that had allied itself with Israel,
fled to Israel for protection from retribution from anti-Israel
forces. Since the unilateral withdrawal, there has been an increase
in attacks by Hizbullah, the major terrorist organization.
THE
GULF WAR
During
the Gulf War, despite its non-involvement, Israel once again came
under attack as Scud Missiles were launched at Israeli territory
from Iraq. In total, 39 scuds landed in Israel, many of them on
homes and other occupied buildings. Pressured by the United States
and other international influences, Israel did not respond to
the attacks. Miraculously, Israel suffered only one death.
THE
INTIFADA and OSLO ACCORDS
In
1987, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), recognized
internationally as a terrorist organization headed by Yassir Arafat,
led an internal uprising known as the Intifada. A non-conventional
war, the Intifada continued until the mid-1990s. The methods of
the Intifada included guerilla warfare, terrorist attacks, stabbings
and highjackings.
As the situation became unbearable for both sides, Prime Minister
Yitzchak Rabin agreed to meet with PLO chief Yassir Arafat. Thus
began the Oslo Peace Process in 1994. Under the Oslo agreement,
Israel agreed to trade land for peace. Included in the terms of
the Oslo agreement were: the removal of troops and the creation
of self-governed Palestinian areas, the creation (and arming)
of a Palestinian police force, as well as the removal from the
PLO charter of the declaration of violence against Israel. Critical
to the furtherance of the peace process was an educational system
based on peace. The agreement was designed to slowly move towards
a separate Palestinian entity governed by the Palestinian Authority,
but only after accepted steps and signs of change on both sides.
Important "final status" issues were left unresolved
until the initial agreement had been fulfilled.
Over the five years during which the "land for peace"
transfers were expected to build mutual trust and confidence,
the two sides would proceed with negotiations on the "final
status" issues left unresolved at Oslo. These included some
of the thorniest issues dividing the two sides: Palestinian statehood,
Jerusalem, and the right of Arab refugee return.
The Oslo period lasted from 1994 until 2000. Peace talks and negotiations
gave Israelis hope that peace would soon be achieved. Yet the
agreements being made by the leaders of both sides were not necessarily
acceptable to their constituents. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other
terrorist organizations continued to disrupt any hopes for peace,
staging numerous bus bombings and other attacks. Right-wing Israelis
fought for their voices to be heard as they countered that "land
for peace" would not bring peace. Still, the talks continued,
and in the summer of 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak, at the behest
of President Bill Clinton, offered chairman Arafat control of
over 90% of the West Bank, Gaza and a shared capital in Jerusalem.
The offer was rejected. Arafat wanted all or nothing.
THE
AL AKSA INTIFADA
Just before Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, in September 2000,
violence again erupted in the area in what is now being called
Intifada II or the Al Aksa Intifada. The Israeli people wearied
by the concessions that did not bring peace, elected Arik Sharon
as Prime Minister in the elections in February, 2001.
Unfortunately, as Israel approaches its 54th anniversary, regional
peace has yet to emerge. Since the outbreak of the Al Aksa Intifada,
hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians have died. Every time it
appears that peace-talks will resume, and that the Palestinian
Authority may actually make a serious attempt to deter the terrorism,
there is another attack. Suicide bombers have attacked pizza shops,
night clubs, cafes and Passover Seders, killing young and old
indiscriminately. Gunmen have infiltrated Bar Mitzvah parties,
bombers have blown up commuter buses -- the one common thread
is that the Palestinian terrorists make no distinctions. Even
Arabs have been murdered. Entire families have been wiped out
and many children have been left without parents.
Our Sages have taught us that the actions of every Jew have a
direct impact on the entire nation. What Jews do in America, in
Canada, in Russia, in any part of the world, can help our brothers
and sisters in Israel find peace. With this in mind, the National
Jewish Outreach Program is suggesting that Jews the world over
commit themselves to doing one extra good deed or one extra act
of kindness each day on behalf of the people of Israel.
What can you do? May we suggest:
A)
Recite the Shema
"Shema Yisrael Ado-nai Elo-haynu Ado-nai Echad."
"Hear O' Israel the L-rd Our G-d the L-rd is One."
"You shall love the L-rd, your G-d, with all your heart,
with all your soul and with all of your resources. And these things
which I command you this day shall be upon your heart. Teach them
to your children, speak of them when you sit in your house, when
you go on your way, when you lie down and when you rise up. Bind
them as a sign upon your arm and they shall be for frontlets between
your eyes. And write them on the doorposts of your house and upon
your gates (Deuteronomy 6:5-9). (Even if you can only recite the
first line of the Shema, do so!)
B)
Give charity
C)
Perform acts of kindness. Visit the sick. Help an elderly
person. Greet people with a smile (even people you don't know
or don't like).
The National
Jewish Outreach Program prides itself on working with Jewish organizations
of all denominations. Achdut, unity, is crucial to our survival,
and we need Jews from all walks of life and all religious affiliations
to participate. Please email us at mitzvah@njop.org
and let us know that you will join our mitzvah/chesed campaign.
The National
Jewish Outreach Program encourages its readers to research the
current situation independently in order to understand the many
issues that confound the process of seeking peace in this critical
region of the world.
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