Modern Conflicts of Israel

Today's article is hopefully the last one on Israel. Next month, we will move onto introducing Lebanon. But for today, I will be writing about some of the short wars and conflicts that Israel has had since its establishment as a nation-state in May 14, 1948. I have included some maps that you can refer to.

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Once Israel proclaimed its status as the independent state of Israel, the Arab forces of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria invaded Israel's territories. By 1949, Israel won the war and received a cease-fire from the UN. They were able to hold their first elections, electing Chaim Weizmann, a Russian-born Jewish chemist, as the first president and David Ben-Gurion as the first prime minister.

Egypt, Jordan, and Syria attacked Israel once again in 1967 with Soviet weapons. Israel acted with a preemptive strike to secure the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. After Israel withdrew from those areas because of Egypt's demands, the Egyptians blocked Israel's shipping in the Gulf of Aqaba. Because of this, Israel launched an air strike on the airfields of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria which in turn destroyed of all the Arab air forces on the ground. Israel also occupied the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, and the West Bank which included the site of Jerusalem. In June 10, 1967, the Six-Day War ended, so called because it took place in six days.

In 1973, during Yom Kippur, the Jewish religious holiday, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel backed by the weapons of the Soviet Union. Israel's losses were much greater than the previous conflicts. The war ended in 1974 after fierce fighting at Golan Heights (between Northern Israel and southern Syria) and the Sinai Peninsula.

This war reactivated OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries). This monopoly was first formed in 1960 to control the supply and price of oil. When the United States sent weapons to Israel for defense, OPEC cut off oil exports to the US causing the Arab oil embargo.

In 1978, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat met with President Jimmy Carter at Camp David to sign the Camp David Accords. For the first time in 2,000 years, the Jews and Arabs sat down to negotiate a peace treaty. Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula between 1979 and 1982 as a result. Although this was a very promising treaty between Israel and Egypt, Anwar el-Sadat was eventually fired upon by his own troops during a military parade due to his signing of the treaty.

Lebanon had a series of civil wars in the 1970s and 1980s. During this time, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) under Yassir Arafat was formed. This is a terrorist organization whose aim was to conquer Israel for the Palestinians. This organization would attack Israel from Southern Lebanon and Israel would attack back. Syria joined on Lebanon's side because the Lebanese Civil War got even worse. Then Israel invaded Lebanon which caused even more problems.

In the 1980's, President Ronald Reagan got the United States involved in this conflict which ended in the Marine Barracks in Lebanon being bombed by a truck that drove straight into the building. After that, the United States withdrew from the conflict and just urged Israel to cease fire.

Israel was involved in a number of other conflicts that I will not discuss here. Iran and Iraq had regime changes that were hostile to the United States. The Persian Gulf Wars and the wave of terrorism that was marked by the 9/11 attacks also affected Israel as well. Usually, when the US got into a conflict in the Middle East, Israel was also on our side.

After the Persian Gulf Wars in 1994, Israel and Jordan ended their official state of war. The Oslo Accords signed by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1993 agreed to trade land for peace with Jordan. In the same year, Israel and the PLO met in Washington D.C. to end their official state of war after 46 years. The Gaza Strip and the city of Jericho became part of Palestine. It was ruled by the Palestinian Authority and Yitzhak Rabin.

In the same year, citizens who were not happy with the treaty caused a lot more violence. There was a shooting at a mosque in Hebron and Yitzhak Rabin was also assassinated at a peace rally in Tel Aviv. Both of these attack were caused by Jewish militants. The US and the UN negotiated another cease-fire to ease the tensions.

Benjamin Netanyahu became Prime Minister of Israel in May 1996 and encouraged Jewish settlement on the West Bank. In September, Israel opened an archaeological excavation tunnel near a Muslim mosque which caused more Palestinian violence. When Israeli troops tried to stop street rioters in Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank, they clashed with the troops of the Palestinian Authority.

In January 1997, Benjamin Netanyahu and Yassir Arafat signed the Hebron Accords in the city of Hebron which Israel owned but was inhabited by Palestinians. Israel handed over this city to the Palestinians according to the accords.

On March 31, 2002, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared a war against terrorism in response to the 9/11 attacks. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) launched Operation Defensive Shield with the goal of reducing terrorist threats in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. They were also able to capture Arafat and his base. On June 19, 2002, Israel launched Operation Determined Path which applied even more pressure on the Palestinians to renounce terrorism.

President George W. Bush announced his "Roadmap for Peace" which provided for a "two-state" solution to the Middle East. His goal was to create a Palestinian state right next to Israel so they could coexist. I still have no clue why he thought this would work, but it happened. And, of course, today Israel still faces terrorist attacks and minor conflicts. They are not so surprising or prominent to the news world anymore.

The Middle East is a very messy place and it's going to get even worse. The book of Revelation prophesies a lot about the end times and Israel is certainly involved. I won't discuss that here because (1) I'm about to take a course on the Book of Revelation for 12th grade, (2) I don't really remember what happens in Revelation, and (3) this article is getting really long.

The verse for today is Psalm 29:2. "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." Most people (not just the kings of Babylon) don't accredit glory to the Lord when He deserves it all. Be humble and remember that the Lord, He is God over all.