War of Israeli Independence (1948)
• Instead the Israelis fought with great courage and skill • The Arabs on the other hand frittered away their numerical advantage with uncoordinated attacks • The war turned into a series of disorganized clashes among small units • After four weeks of fighting, both sides accepted a UN-sponsored ceasefire
Abdel Nasser
• In spite of the ceasefire, tensions remained high • They increased after 1954 when General Abdel Nasser, a bold Arab nationalist, gained control of the tian government
Arab-Israeli Wars
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ID & SIG
• Camp David Accords, Golan Heights, Israel, Nasser, OPEC, PLO, preemptive strike, Sadat, Sharon, Sinai, Six Day War, Suez Canal, unity of command, Yom Kippur War, War of Israeli Independence
• France became upset with Egypt’s providing weapons to insurgents in Algeria so France began supplying Israel
– Nasser first tried to acquire weapons from the West but when that failed he turned to the Soviet Union – The USSR began indirectly supplying Egypt with weapons through Czechoslovakia
David Ben-Guiron, first prime minister of Israel, declares Israel’s independence
War of Israeli Independence (1948)
• At first the Egyptian air force struck Tel Aviv • Soon after that forces from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia all attacked • Most analysts felt the more numerous and better equipped Arabs would overwhelm the Israelis easily
Creation of Israel
• British forces withdrew and on May 14, 1948 the Jews proclaimed the establishment of the state of Israel • The next day the Arabs attacked
– Presence of advanced weapons
• Suez Canal as a vital link between the Red and Mediterranean Seas
Creation of Israel
• Jews had long hoped to establish an independent state in Palestine based on the covenant between Yahweh and Abraham (Genesis 17:7-8) • Arabs rejected this desire with equal passion • After the European anti-Semitism of the 1930s and the Holocaust of World War II, Jews increasingly began migrating to Palestine
Importance of the Middle East during the Cold War
• • • • Colonial legacies Oil reserves Islamic, Jewish, Christian religious roots Location on the southern flank of the Soviet Union • Soviet and American client states
Creation of Israel
• Following World War I and the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations’ mandate gave Great Britain control of Palestine • After World War II, the British concluded they could no longer control the escalating violence between Arabs and Jews and turned the problem over to the United Nations • In November 1947, the UN voted to partition Palestine