ARAB ISRAEL CONFLICT

Introduction – The partition plan passed by the UN in November 1047 was rejected by the Arabs. The Arab League representing 36 million Arabs was determined not to allow the creation of a Jewish state in the heart of the land of the Arab countries. There might have been rivalries among the Arab ruling elite, but they had a common goal and that was to see that no non-Arab state was thrust upon them.

Arab opposition – In January 1948, organized bands of Arabs began guerilla war. The Arab liberation army was supported by the Arab League and the Grand Mufti. The Arab countries of Egypt, Jordan, Iraq invaded Palestine and wished to form a shadow Arab government for Palestine.

Zionist resistance – The Jews too had a justification for resisting the Arab onslaught. They had been promised a homeland by the UN and were not going to let it evaporate in the hostile atmosphere. They met the massive attack by the Arabs on their new state, in the process of formation, by establishing a provisional Jewish government at Tel Aviv. The desperate resistance of 75,000 Israeli volunteers began under the leadership of Ben Gurion.

British stand – The British were not in favor of a partition plan and wanted some sort of Federation governing Palestine under the trusteeship of the UN. US initially supported partition, but since partition proved unworkable, she declared in March 1948 to support a temporary trusteeship of UN for Palestine. This had to be done before 15^th May 1948 as Britain had announced it would surrender its mandate to the UN and withdraw its forces from Palestine on that day.

Arab Israeli clashes – This change in the US policy gratified the Arabs. As these somersaults in policies of the big powers were taking place, the fight between the Arabs and the Jews went on unabated. In the first Arab Israeli war, the Israelites were greatly outnumbered. But they wanted the Arab Liberation Army. Ben Gurion and his colleagues could manage to arrange modern aircrafts from the US and Czechoslovakia. The Jews successfully occupied areas given to them in the partition plan.

The British High Commissioner left Palestine on May 14^th, 1948. The state of Israel was proclaimed and subsequently recognized by the US and Soviet Russia.

UNO and the War – The UN had to nip the war in the bud and prevent it from spreading to their countries. It appointed Count Bernadotte of Sweden to act as mediator. He brought about a ceasefire within weeks. The position of the combatants in Palestine was as follows:

The Egyptian Army had penetrated into Palestine and captured the Gaza strip. The Arabs held the Central part of Palestine.

The Zionist held most of the coastline, the cities of Tel Aviv, Haifa, district of Galilee and Jerusalem.

The Arabs attacked once again on 9^th July 1948 and another ceasefire had to be brought about. The mediator created an impression that he was pro Arab when he put forth a new partition scheme. Zionist terrorists in Jerusalem assassinated Bernadotte. He was succeeded by Dr. Buche who called Arab and Jewish representatives and an armistice was signed between Israel and Arab countries of Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria from Feb to July 1949.

This was a crucial issue for the UN as this was its first major undertaking since its establishment in 1945. The UN finally established peace and the Jewish state was accorded recognition by the major powers and Israel became a member of the UN in May 1949.

Settlement Program for Palestine – According to negotiations:

Jordan got one fifth of former territory of Palestine.

Egypt got the sandy coastline in southwest Palestine.

Israel got the coastline and Tel Aviv, Haifa, Galilee and most of Jerusalem.

 

After ceasefire the immediate problem was of the refugees. The UN passed a resolution for settlement of refugee problem and authorized the setting up of Palestine Conciliation Committee (11 Dec 1948). The largest number of refugees were in the Gaza strip which was occupied by Egypt. The relief program was to cost $300 million and US, British rest of the democratic world chipped in.

Israel complained that the reintegration of refugees was made impossible by vicious anti-Jew propaganda. On the other hand, 100,000s of Palestine Arabs had fled to neighboring countries as they had been uprooted.

Effects of the war on Arab countries:

According to Bernadotte’s report, the Arab territory of Palestine had been incorporated in Jordan. King Abdullah of Jordan, rushed to take charge of this area before any other Arab could occupy it. Therefore, he moved his troops from Jerusalem to this area and signed a truce with Jews in Jerusalem. This helped Israel concentrate on fighting Egypt. This forced Egypt to enter into an armistice with Israel and the other countries followed suit. Therefore, hostilities had ended by April 1949.

Defeat in Palestine was not just a military defeat, but a defeat of general Arab policy. Governments failed to satisfy nationalist sentiments that they had aroused and this led to unrest.

The pro-British King Abdullah of Jordan became the target of criticism as he had grabbed the Arab part of Palestine and prevented others. This created much heart burning. Abdullah was murdered on 20 July 1951.

In Syria there were several military coups over 1948-49 and finally Colonel Sushekey assumed control of the government placing his protégés as Prime Minster and Head of State.

An important effect of the defeat was experienced in Egypt. The nationalists wanted to overthrow the corrupt government and the ineffective Wafd Party. In July 1952, a group of young officers seized power. They got rid of King Faroukh. The officers led by Colonel Nasser and General Naquib, who made sincere attempts to reform the administration and promote land reforms. The new government made an agreement with Britain in 1953 to grant self-government to Sweden. In 1954, Nasser ousted Naquib to win over support of the Arab community, signed a treaty with Britain whereby British would withdraw forces from Suez Canal.

In a way the Palestine War preserved the unity among the Arabs. They considered the creation of Israel as European colonialism. The Nationalist spirit awakened, scattered over North Africa and West Asia, would not allow colonialism in any form to take root. They were keen on a military buildup and this necessitated ever expanding military budgets.

The Cold War – Israel owed its existence to the Western powers and its commitment to them was obvious. It could not risk losing their direct or indirect support. The Arab countries were determined to free themselves of Western influence. This further made the Arab land a battle ground in the Cold War. However, most power followed a confused and twisting foreign policy, abruptly switching sides.

Some Western powers resisted the partition. France despaired the loss of hold on Syria. Britain wanted air bases in the Middle East and military outposts to guard Suez Canal. She was satisfied that the Arab zone was assigned to probe British.

The US too was in a fix. The Presidential elections were to take place in 1952 and Israelites vote had to be secured. On the other hand, the Arabs could not be alienated as oil from the Middle East was coming through pipelines running across Arab countries. US also wanted to frustrate USSR’s efforts to spread communism in the Middle East. Thus, the Middle East was caught in an explosive situation.

USSR believed that Zionism was an instrument of Western Imperial Policy, but they also felt that the urban people in Palestine could be effectively used for the spread of Marxism in the Arab countries.

Bandung Conference – In April 1955, the Prime Ministers of India, Pakistan, Burma, Ceylon, Indonesia, invited 29 countries to an Asian African conference at Bandung in Indonesia. Most of the Arab countries were invited. Israel was not invited, but communist China was invited. Among the Afro-Asia leaders were Dr. Sukarno – the host, Pandit Nehru, Colonel Nasser, Chou-en-Lai. The Conference provided a platform for voicing anti colonial feelings and expressing feelings against communist imperialism.

The conference besides suggesting methods of economic cooperation declared full support to principles of human rights set forth by UN Charter. It supported the Arabs in their struggle with Israel and thus Colonel Nasser had successfully mobilized ‘Third World’ opinion in favor of Arabs. He was assured of public support.

Aswan High Dam Scheme – Egypt undertook a scheme for economic development in 1953. Nasser’s favorite scheme of the construction of the Aswan High Dam figured in the reconstruction plan. The estimated cost was about two billion dollars. The US government worked out a plan with world bank to provide foreign aid. A joint offer was announced on 16 December 1953. Egypt publicly accepted the offer. This announcement created a similar desire among other Arab countries for Americans and Nasser’s ambition was to establish an Arab Empire excited tehri envy.

Other difficulties included dividing Nile waters, settling the question of Israel.

The Aswan Dam was beneficial to a large number of people in a backward country and it was politically effective to contain communism. The US government was ready to oblige Egypt.

Egypt Armament Program – However, it was discovered that Nasser had been involved in a deal with USSR to buy military equipment worth $200 million. This payment was to be made against Egyptian cotton. Nasser had already completed the deal in 1955 and was now arranging another. Therefore, the very purpose of American aid would be defeated.

The Ambassador of Egypt took it for granted that the US was committed to the deal and mentioned to the US Secretary of state that if they didn’t finish the money, USSR would. US withdrew the aid. Nasser was furious and declared that he would allow the dollar to rule Egypt. He at a large meeting at Alexandria in 1956 announced that there was an attempt to destroy Arab Nationalism. He said (that) he had signed a resolution nationalizing the Suez Canal. With its income, Egypt would not need American aid.

Suez Canal Crisis (1956) – During the three years before nationalization of the Suez Canal Company, the aggressive Arab Nationalism in Syria, Jordan, Egypt alarmed Israel. Nationalization of the canal which affected the western powers but US was willing to help them find a peaceful solution. Relations between US and Britain were strained due to the Palestine partition, Saudi government’s claim over a part of Eastern Arabian principalities under British protection.

The nationalization was obviously in retaliation for the American refusal to supply funds for the Aswan Dam. President Eisenhower did not wish to aggravate the matter because the presidential elections were to take place in November 1956, and he did not want to appear as a war mongering candidate.

Soviet Russia could not take up the Arab cause as it was busy suppressing revolts in Poland and Hungary.

On 16 August 1956, an international conference of 24 nations, 16 users of the canal, and signatories of the Constantinople Convention, was held in London. It was agreed that an international board would govern the canal.

Second Arab Israel War – In the meantime, Egypt (1950s) raided Israel who had developed a port at Elaton Gulf of Alaska which was its only Southern outlet to the sea, because Egypt had stopped Israel from using the Suez Canal. But Egypt blocked the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba as well. In July 19956, Egypt seized the Suez Canal from British and French owners. Israel retaliated by occupying the Sinai Peninsular on 29 October 1956 and the Egyptian forces were routed. On 39 October 1956, the Anglo French campaign began and Egyptian air bases were bombed.

On the same day, the US adopted an anti-imperialist stand and opposed the military action of Israel, Britain, France. It demanded a ceasefire and proposed that the UN forces should temporarily take charge of affected area. It was adopted and ceasefire came into effect on 6 November 1956.

Conclusion – The conflict had continued through the decades right up till the present day. Arab opposition towards Israel had been activated by Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that represents Palestinian Arabs. The problem is a complex one involving several nations and their own motives and whether there lies a long-term solution to the problem, only time will tell.