Arab - Israeli Wars :: essays research papers

Sincethe fall in Nations partition of PALESTINE in 1947 andthe establishment of the modern state of ISRAEL in 1948, there have been four study Arab-Israeli wars (1947-49,1956, 1967, and 1973) and numerous intermittent battles.Although Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979,hostility between Israel and the rest of its Arab neighbors,complicated by the demands of Palestinian Arabs, go alonginto the 1980s. THE FIRST PALESTINE WAR (1947-49)The first war began as a civil conflict between PalestinianJews and Arabs following the United Nationsrecommendation of Nov. 29, 1947, to partition Palestine,then still under British mandate, into an Arab state and a Judaic state. Fighting quickly spread as Arab guerrillasattacked Jewish settlements and communication links toprevent implementation of the UN plan. Jewish forcesprevented seizure of most settlements, but Arab guerrillas,supported by the Transjordanian Arab Legion under thecommand of British officers, besieged Jerusalem. By Ap ril,Haganah, the principal Jewish military group, seized theoffensive, scoring victories against the Arab Liberation Armyin northern Palestine, Jaffa, and Jerusalem. British militaryforces withdrew to Haifa although officially neutral, somecommanders assisted one placement or the other. After the Britishhad departed and the state of Israel had been established onMay 15, 1948, under the premiership of DavidBEN-GURION, the Palestine Arab forces and foreignvolunteers were joined by regular armies of Transjordan(now the acres of JORDAN), IRAQ, LEBANON, andSYRIA, with token support from SAUDI ARABIA. Effortsby the UN to halt the fighting were unsuccessful until June11, when a 4-week truce was declared. When the Arabstates refused to renew the truce, ten more days of fightingerupted. In that time Israel greatly extended the area underits control and broke the siege of Jerusalem. Fighting on asmaller scale continued during the encourage UN trucebeginning in mid-July, and Israel acquired more territory,especially in Galilee and the Negev. By January 1949, whenthe last battles ended, Israel had extended its frontiers byabout 5,000 sq km (1,930 sq mi) beyond the 15,500 sq km(4,983 sq mi) allocated to the Jewish state in the UNpartition resolution. It had also secured its independence.During 1949, armistice agreements were signed under UNauspices between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Syria, andLebanon. The armistice frontiers were unofficial boundariesuntil 1967. SUEZ-SINAI WAR (1956) Border conflictsbetween Israel and the Arabs continued despite provisions inthe 1949 armistice agreements for peace negotiations.Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs who had leftIsraeli-held territory during the first war concentrated inrefugee camps along Israels frontiers and became a majorsource of friction when they infiltrated back to their homes or