Causes and Consequences of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

IGCSE History Arab-Israeli Conflict First Arab-Israeli War: 1948-9 Causes When Israel was formed in 14th May 1948, none of the Arab states acknowledged its existence, thus forming a coalition to invade and re-take Palestine. What happened? - 14th May 1948, David Ben-Gurion announced formation of Israel - Arab states: Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria subsequently invaded with 30,000 troops - Arab Legion = most experienced and well equipped, took over the Old City of Jerusalem USA. UN cease-fire ordered on 11th June, which Jews rearmed and receive fresh supplies from - 7th July, Israelis captured important towns of Lydda and Ramle - Ten days later- second truce began Truce broke down in October when Israelis attacked the Egyptian force, taking the costal strip between Tel Aviv and Gaza and drove Egyptians out. Early 1949, Israel controlled all of Palestine, except for Gaza strip, held by Egypt and the West Bank area, controlled by Jordan. On 24th February, an armistice was signed between Egypt and Israel, subsequently, other Arab nations signed. Why did Israel win? - Arab soldiers from Palestine were disorganised ad lacked good leaders. - Arab soldiers = poorly trained + badly equipped Arab soldiers = no coordination + battle plan, King Abudallah of Jordan was over-all command, but has his own objective of capturing Jerusalem + West Bank. UN ordered a case-fire in June 11th, which Israel could re-organise and receive fresh arms from America. - America was Security Council of UN, thus they exerted great influence. Jewish soldiers = disciplined and experience fighting with the British in WWII, and against them after it. - Jewish = had the feeling of survival What were the consequences? A Jewish state was established within the territory controlled by the Jewish forced. Large numbers of Jewish migrants moved to the New Israel. Only the Gaza strip, east Jerusalem and the West Bank remained outside Israeli control, causing more arguments in the future. The majority of Arab Palestinians fled from Israel and become refugees. A minority remained in Israel. Governments of Arab state were discredited and humiliated. Syrian government lost power in 1949, King Abdullah was assassinated in 1951, King Farouk of Egypt lost power in 1952 Suez Crisis of 1956 Reasons Israel – wanted to be reorganised, Gaza raids from Palestine, Straits of Tiran were blockaded from Egyptians Britain and France – Nasser has nationalised Suez Canal and took possession of it, Egyptians purchased Czechoslovakia arms from Russia France – Egyptians were sending aid to Algerians who were achieving independence from French Sept 1955 Nasser decided to buy Russian arms He need arms for defence against Israel and the West would not supply them July 1956 Britain and USA refused to lend Egpyt more money for a major project creating a hydroelectric power Persuading Naseer to be more cooperative, or else other Egyptians could replace him 26th July Nasser decided to nationalise the Suez Canal and heavily tax the British and French from using it Using the profits to build the Aswan damn, and prove towards the world Egypt and the Arab world would stand up against Western Imperialism. 24 Oct British, French, and Israel met together and discussed how they would teach Egypt a lesson British, French, and Israelis were unhappy with Nasser’s act of nationalising Suez Canal, supplying arms for the Algerian conflict, and blockading the port of Eliat. More importantly Nasser were purchasing arms from Russia, hence the Soviets would gain more influence, as Middle East is important in oil and resources. 29th Oct Israeli forces invaded the Sinai peninsula in Egypt and advanced to the Suez Canal Israel was to teach Egypt a lesson as pre-planned by the meeting on the 24th October 30th October Britain and France ordered Egypt and Israel to withdraw 16km away from the Suez Canal and a ceasefire, or else Britain and France would take military actions. Nasser refused. Britain and France knew that Nasser would refuse as the Isrealis were still pushing through the Sinai desert, hence provoking Nasser to fight. 31st October – 5th British and French planes bombed November Egyptian airfields and aeroplanes in order to gain air superiority. Subsequently, British and French forces invaded the Port Said and quickly retaken the Suez Canal 6th November The United Nations declared a ceasefire and condemned the actions of UK and France, including the USA. The Americans threatened to cut off aids, whilst the Russian threatened to send military forces to invade. The biggest fear of the British and French governments was: - Egypt would come under Russian influence - The Arab states would become united and deny Western access to oil - He would expel all Western influence on the Middle East, and close the Suez canal Consequences of the Suez War Nasser gained greatly in prestige for the way he had defied his enemies and became a hero throughout the Arab world The Soviet Union was admired by any radical Arabs for supporting Nasser, Soviet influence in the Arab world was increased. - Israel soon won back the support of the Americans The success of the Israeli military proved how formidable Israel was. For several years after Suez, no Arab countries were prepared to go to war. Six Day War of 1967 Short term Causes Date Event Effect/Result 18th May Nasser asked the UN commander to remove his troops form Egyptian soil The UN Secretary-General proposed to place troops on the Israeli side, but was refused. UN troops had to completely retreat. 22nd May Egypt closed the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping Israelis regarded this as ‘an act of aggression’ against Israeli and claimed that the United States, Britain and France had ‘guaranteed’ free passage for all shipping through the Gulf of Aqaba in 1957. 24th May The Syrian Defence Minister taunted the Israelis by saying ‘never call for, nor accept peace… resolve to drench this land with your blood’ It further provoked the Israelis to fight against the Arab nations. 29th May Nasser spoke to the Egyptian Parliament and declared that ‘preparations have been made… Nasser demanded that Israel should allow Palestinian refuges to return and to give up land taken in 1948-49 ready to confront Israel.’ 30th May King Hussein wanted to remain neutral throughout the conflict, however half of the population were Palestinians, hence there were demonstrations demanding revenge for 1948. King Hussein signed a defence treaty with Egypt. 31st May Israel needed American permission to prevent the bitter memories of 1956 where the victory in Sinai was halted due to American pressure. Dean Rusk, US secretary of state said that Americans would not restrain anyone, implying that the USA would not oppose any military actions taken by Israel. Long term causes Fatah + PLO 1948-49 War Events of 1920 + 30s influx of Jewish immigrants Rise of Zionism Events of the war Date Israel v. Egypt Israel v. Jordan Israel v. Syria Monday 5th June Israeli planes bombed all 19 Egyptian airfields and wrecked 300 planes. Israeli troops advanced into the Sinai desert and Gaza Strip The Israelis destroyed the Jordanian air force. Jordanian troops attacked West Jerusalem Israeli planes crippled the Syrian air force. Tuesday 6th June The Israelis raced the Egyptian forces to the Suez Canal. The Israeli air force destroyed many Egyptian tanks and other vehicles, while Israeli ground forces destroyed or captured the rest. Heavy fighting for control of Jerusalem and the West Bank of the River Jordan Wednesday 7th June The Israelis won complete control of Sinai and accepted the UN call for a cease-fire with Egypt. The Israelis captured all of Jerusalem. Jordan accepted the UN demand for a cease-fire. Thursday 8th June Egypt accepted the ceasefire call. Israel won complete control of all the West Bank of the River Jordan. Friday 9th June Israeli troops attacked the Golan Heights Saturday 10th June Israelis seized the Golan Heights. Syria accepted the UN call for a cease-fire. Consequences of the Six-Day War - Arabs casualties: 15,000 - Israeli casualties: 1000 - Arab air force: Destroyed - Increase Arab hostility towards Israel, USA, GB - USSR rearmed Arab nations - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Libya gave financial support to Egypt and Jordan - The United Nations passed resolution 242 in November 1967, this is very important! (see below) - Increase in numbers of refugees from West Bank and Gaza Strip - 1 million Palestinians now under Israeli control – this has been the cause of many problems for modern Israel - Israel made massive land gains. They gained four areas: Gaza Strip, Sinai, Golan Heights, West Bank. - Control of these lands has proved to be very problematic for Israel and in 1967, there was much disagreement about what to do with them. - The UN resolution 242 said that Israel should withdraw from all of the territories they have gained in 1967. Israel’s failures to do so were causes of much anger for the Arabs. Conquered lands Annexation Sinai As the Sinai desert is thinly populated, it would not cause major unrests or rebellion that could threaten the stability of Israeli control. West Bank The West Bank includes the ‘Holy City of Jerusalem’, which the Jews had been desperate for thousands of years to return. In addition, the land is very fertile and good for agricultural Military occupation Negotiation Negotiate with Egypt as it is a large, barren desert area, hence not worth keeping. On the other hand, it could act as a buffer zone and promise free shipping in Gulf of Aqaba which was previously blockade by Egypt Since there is a huge amount of Arabs living in this region, yet Jerusalem remains in this region, a military occupation could suppress the antiSemitic sentiment From the 1948/9 war onwards, 750000 people live here which are mostly Arab refugees, this may cause further social unrest in the region as Israel only has 2.5 million Jews. production. Gaza The PLO and other Arabs have utilized the Gaza Strip as a cradle of raiding for incursions into Israel. Hence, it could be strategic to annex it as it is small and could be easily controlled. From the 1948/9 war onwards, 300000 people live here, mostly Arabs. As a result, with such small area and densely populated, it could surely create social unrests. Golan Heights Yom Kippur War of 1973 Why did the Yom Kippur war start? - Regain honour from the aftermath of the Six Day War After the 1967 Six Day War, there was little peaceful solution of the dispute between Israel and the Arab world. - Frequent artillery bombardment across the Suez Canal Israel escalated it and launched air bombardment, known as the War of Attrition, which ended in Aug 1970 with a peace treaty. After Nasser died in 1970, Sadat took over and was prepared to recover Sinai by recognising Israel; however, Israel was not willing to discuss. Nasser tried to persuade USA to exert its influence by Israel, and sacked his antiAmerican politicians. Nasser then tried to persuade the Soviet Union to supply more arms; however Russians tried to gain more power in the Egyptian government. The Egyptians refused and 15,000 Russian advisers were expelled. Sadat has the finance of Saudi Arabia – a rich oil state; also Syria had a new leader called Assad, which was a viable ally for Egypt. Sadat made a speech in 1973 condemning the Israelis and inferred aggression and war, the Israelis and the world took it as a bluff. Egypt and Syria were secretly planning for a war with Israel and made massive preparations such as SAM missiles, and thus attacked on 6 th October, which was the holiest holiday for the Jews known as Yom Kippur. Events of the War Egypt and Syria attacked on the 6th October 1973, this is the Jewish holy day and the Israelis caught entirely unprepared. They were only 400 Israeli troops along the canal that 8000 Egyptian soldiers overwhelmed them. There was a similar collapse on the Syrian front, where only 150 Israeli tanks were attacked by over 500 Syrian tanks. Egyptian and Syrian Russian made missiles shot down 50 Israeli planes. It took three days to mobilise, by the 10th October; the Syrians have been driven out of the Golan Heights. The defeat of Syria allowed Israel to concentrate their forces on the Egyptian front. On the 14th October, there was a huge tank battle in the Sinai desert, which the Israelis won decisively, Egyptian lost 260 tanks and Israeli lost 10 tanks. On 15 th October, Israel moved across the Suez Canal. Many Israelis wanted to push on and destroy the Egyptian forces, but the US put pressure on Israel and they reluctantly signed a cease-fire on the 26 th October. Consequences of the War Israeli reputation of invincibility was destroyed because they had been taken by surprised in the first day of the war. World opinion became much more sympathetic to the Arabs, because Israel was seen more aggressive and people seem to be more anti-American due the Vietnam War. The Arab states placed a quota on the oil exports, whilst Saudi Arabia placed an embargo to USA. As a result, the West exerted huge pressure on Israel to sign a peace treaty. In addition, after the war, oil of prices was increased for the USA to purchase oil. - Saudi Arabia banned the export of oil to US and the Netherlands The Superpowers got involved, USSR advised their ally – Egypt to accept a ceasefire. The US was concerned about the ending of oil export. They were also worried that Israel would attack Cairo and Damascus that might lead to Russian military intervention. USSR and US were co-operating at this time – they met together and demanded a ceasefire, which came in effect on 24th October, UN troops were sent to Egypt. There was anger in Israel that the Arab attack had not been anticipated and two and a half thousand Israeli soldiers had been killed. In April 1974, the Israeli PM and the Defence Minister: Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan were forced to resign. Although the Arabs were defeated, the war was political victory for them. Anwar Sadat emerged as a hero and the Arab states proved, they could act together, especially over oil. The US became much friendlier with Egypt because they wanted to have good relations with the Arabs so they could have oil. In 1974, America began a program of economic and military support for Egypt. Egypt moved away from USSR and in 1977, they signed a peace agreement with Israel. 1948-9 In 1947, the UN declared that Palestine was to be split between the Jews and ArabsThe Jews seized the chance to declare independence and formed the country of Israel - 1956 None of the Arab states acknowledged Israel’s right to exist Nasser decided to remove the yoke of Imperialism, hence nationalising the Suez Canal and this caused resentment within the Western Powers.Nasser further imposed a heavy tax for British + French ships crossing the Suez Canal Egyptians were supply the Algerian independence movement from France - Straits of Tiran were blockaded causing Israel trade to hamper. Britain + Israel + France allied together in order to achieve mutual goals in teaching Egypt a lesson 1967 The Arab states had a burning desire to crush Israel.Nasser was accused by Syria of being a coward and hiding behind UN troops stationed in Suez Canal, hence Egypt signed a defence treaty of Syria - Constant PLO raids and Israel artillery strike provoked both sides - Egypt again blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba, hampering Israeli shipping Both Syria and Egypt made threatening speeches about war preparations and wiping Israel away from the map Jordan was forced into helping Egypt and Syria or else face the immense war fervour from the populace 1973 - America made no attempts to halt the Israelis from being aggressors. - Israel made a pre-emptive strike without a declaration of war Regain honour and pride the defeats of 3 warsEgypt actually tried for peace negotiations for regaining land lost in the 6 Day War, but Israel refused to even compromise. Even the Superpower like America refused to care, as they were busy in Vietnam, whilst the USSR demanded more influence over the Egyptian government. Egypt and the Arab states came together and organised a plan such as using the oil to their advantage, and also making massive military preparations such as SAM missiles to prevent the same events in the 6 Day War.