Seventy years of war: why can't the Palestinians and Israel make peace?

Now the solution to the Palestinian problem looks no closer than in 1948. It was then that the State of Israel was proclaimed and the first Arab-Israeli war immediately broke out.

The violence, which has killed tens of thousands of people over 70 years, may subside or flare up with renewed vigor, but it never completely stops. Palestinian militants are firing rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israeli cities, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is killing protesters - all this is happening right now, although there is no official fighting. Diplomats from the US, Russia, and the UN routinely express concern and hold consultations, but a lull in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is always the calm before the storm.

Still from the Israeli anti-war film “Waltz with Bashir”

Why do they hate each other so much? Why can't the whole world find a solution to the conflict that would suit everyone? Why do two peoples argue so vehemently over sun-scorched land with an area of approximately 25 thousand square meters? km.? To answer these questions, it is necessary to familiarize yourself, at least briefly, as far as possible, with the history of the conflict.

People without land

The ratio of the Jewish and Arab population in Palestine in different years
The Jewish kingdoms of Palestine collapsed under the blows of the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD: since then this territory has changed many owners. But for Jews scattered throughout European countries, their historical homeland always remained sacred, a lost paradise, to which, according to Scripture, they must return. One of the Jewish prayers for centuries ended with the refrain: “Next year - in Jerusalem!”

Theodor Herzl

However, the resettlement of European Jews to Palestine at the end of the 19th century did not begin because of religious texts. Theodor Herzl (1860 - 1904), a Jew from Austria-Hungary, a famous journalist and the first herald of the creation of a Jewish state, remembered how during the scandalous “Dreyfus Affair” (the trial of a Jewish French army officer falsely accused of treason), hundreds of French people chanted : "Death to the jews!". Jewish pogroms were organized in Russia and Eastern Europe, and anti-Semitic treatises were written in Germany and Austria. Judeophobia remained a constant threat in Europe.

Herzl decided: this cannot go on any longer, the Jews need their own state, where they will no longer be a persecuted minority. In 1896, he wrote a pamphlet, “The Jewish State,” in which he called on the world community to help the Jewish people find their own country, preferably in Palestine. A year later he creates the World Zionist Organization (WZO). Zionism is the ideology of returning Jews to their historical homeland and creating a state there.

Slowly but surely, the emigration of Jews to Palestine is growing: they are supported by the rich houses of European Jews (Rothschilds, Monteofiori), together with thousands of poor enthusiasts they collect money to purchase lands.

After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire

After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the three nations inhabiting it - the Kurds, Armenians and Palestinians - were denied their own state. Arab lands became mandate territories of Great Britain and France (Syria and Lebanon). In 1920, colonial administration of Palestine was established. The British allowed Jews to emigrate to Palestine, but did not allow them to found their own state. This was less than the Zionists wanted, but more than the Arabs were willing to concede. Another British mandate was on the opposite bank of the Jordan River. England's policy in Palestine was characterized by inconsistency and uncertainty, but on the whole the British administration tended to side with the Arabs.

Jewish immigration

Since the beginning of the 20th century. Jews, under the influence of Zionist propaganda, arrived in Palestine, bought land there, and created kibbutzim (communes with an almost complete absence of private property). The majority of the Arab population viewed the arrival of the Zionists as a blessing, since the Jews, with their tenacity and hard work, turned the barren land of Palestine into fertile plantations. This attitude towards the Zionists offended representatives of the local Arab elite, who were proud of their ancient culture and were indignant at the epithet “backward.” With the growing flow of emigrants, the Jewish community became more and more Europeanized, democratic and socialist, while the Arab community remained traditional and patriarchal.

After Hitler came to power, Jewish immigration increased sharply. By 1935, their number in Palestine reached 60 thousand people. Arab resistance increased accordingly, as the Arabs feared that their faith and way of life would be threatened by the increasing number of Jews. The Arabs believed that the claims of the Jews were exorbitant - according to tradition, the possessions of ancient Israel included most of modern Syria and Jordan, as well as the territory of the Egyptian Sinai and modern Israel.

Muhammad Amin al-Husseini

During the interwar period, the leader of Arab nationalists was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Amin al-Husseini, head of the largest landowning clan in Palestine. Al-Husseini took an active part in anti-Jewish pogroms in 1929. He organized the systematic extermination of moderate Arabs, of whom there were quite a few in Palestine.

Creation of the Haganah and the Irgun

For the purposes of self-defense, the Jewish Agency, with the permission of Churchill, created an independent Jewish Brigade within the British Army, which became the core of the Haganah, the defensive force of the Jewish Agency in 1920-1948. (with the formation of the Jewish state, the Haganah became the basis of the Israel Defense Forces).

In counterbalance to Arab terrorism, the most radical Zionists formed their own terrorist organization, the Irgun.

Cold welcome in a hot country

Jewish bus, protected from stones and grenades. Palestine, 30th.

In the mid-19th century, approximately 400,000 people lived in Palestine, of which only 6,000 were Jews, the majority were Sunni Arabs. Palestine was a poor province of the Ottoman Empire, the land here belonged mainly to large Arab feudal lords, who rented it out to fellah peasants. It was from the feudal lords that the WZO (World Zionist Organization) funds bought the territory, after which the seller and buyer confronted the peasants with a fact: you no longer live here. In essence, the settlers deprived the fellahin of their homes and jobs, which caused outrage.

Jerusalem, late XIX - early XX centuries

The main cause of the conflict was already born then: everything that appeared later, including wars, violence and territorial disputes, was a consequence of this fundamental disagreement.

— For Jews who moved to Palestine - the Land of Israel (Eretz Israel), their emigration was a return home, the finding of a national home after hundreds of years of humiliation and oppression. At the same time, they tried to do everything legally, in compliance with the legal norms of that time;

“For the Arabs, who lived in this territory for centuries, the emigration of Jews was an invasion of uninvited guests with dubious rights. It’s as if strangers came to your house and declared that their ancestors lived here under Rurik, so now this is their home.

Members of Hashomer, the Jewish self-defense organization in Palestine

The reasoning of both is quite understandable and, by and large, remains unchanged even now. For the Israelis, their country is a sacred hearth, a stronghold and a besieged fortress. For the Arabs - a “Zionist entity” (the most radically minded even refuse to use the word “Israel”), a tumor on the body of the world and the apartheid regime, where the rights of the Arab population are systematically violated.

Losses on both sides

During the Six-Day War, the losses of the Israeli side amounted to about 800-1000 people. Almost 400 tanks out of 1093 involved were disabled. Aviation losses amounted to approximately 50 aircraft.

The losses of the Arab countries were:

Egypt - according to various estimates, from 11.5 to 15 thousand dead, 20 thousand wounded, 5.5 thousand prisoners, 330 aircraft lost, there is no exact data on ground equipment;
Jordan - 696 dead, 421 wounded, 2 thousand missing. Lost 179 tanks, 53 armored personnel carriers, 1062 guns, 3166 vehicles, about 20 thousand small arms, 7000 tons of ammunition went to Israel;
Syria - according to various sources, 1-2.5 thousand dead, 5 thousand wounded, 365 prisoners;
Iraq - 10 dead, 30 wounded.

Accurate data on losses among other countries is not available. The USA and Great Britain, which did not take part in the war, suffered indirect losses from the actions of the Israeli military.

English promises

Following the First World War, the Ottoman Empire collapsed. The League of Nations (the international organization that existed between the world wars, the “beta version” of the UN) determined that Great Britain would gain temporary control of Palestine: its administration would help resolve conflicts and prepare a country (or two) for independence.

Zones of influence of Britain (red) and France (blue)

The British policy failed completely - perhaps because they started with mutually exclusive promises.

1) Even during the First World War, they promised the Arab sheriff of Mecca, Hussein ibn Ali, that if he rebelled against the Ottoman Empire and the Entente won the war, he would be made king of all Arab lands, including Palestine (McMahon-Hussein agreement). Hussein fulfilled his part of the deal, but the British subsequently stated that the agreement did not have the status of an official treaty.

2) In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote a letter to Lord Rothschild, a representative of the country’s Jewish community, where he assured that “His Majesty’s Government will do everything ... to create in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people” (Balfour Declaration). In essence, this meant a promise of assistance in creating a state - however, the British were in no hurry to take real steps in this direction.

Sheriff of Mecca Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi and Egyptian High Commissioner Henry McMahon, who gave guarantees to Arab Palestine

Such hypocrisy caused anger and protests against British policies among both Jews and Arabs. This was, perhaps, the only thing that united the two peoples, who disliked each other more and more, as the emigration of Jews to Palestine grew and, accordingly, domestic conflicts (sometimes armed) between Jewish settlers and Arab peasants became more frequent .

The British governor wrote that he could not stand the endless mutual claims of Jews and Arabs: “Two hours of Arab complaints push me to the synagogue, and after an intensive course of Zionist propaganda I am ready to convert to Islam.”

Arab revolt in Palestine 1936

Due to the tense situation in Europe between the world wars, emigration grew quite quickly. The Yishuv (Jewish community in Palestine) grew to 400,000 people by the late 1930s; political parties and their own armed organizations that existed illegally appeared in it. There were about a million Arabs, and they also had paramilitary forces working for them.

Israel Defense Forces [↑]

At the beginning of the war, the Arabs were opposed by several active military organizations, which united at the end of May, and on May 31, 1948, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) emerged - an active army, staffed by this time not only with the Jews of Palestine, but also with those arriving from other countries. The Tsakhal was headed by D. Ben-Gurion, who had previously headed Agana. To avoid internal strife, he disbanded other organizations such as Etzel and Lehi.

Kibbutz militias also took part in the battles - weakly armed, but full of fighting spirit.

The most important role was played by the delivery to Israel of military aircraft - English-made fighters left by the American army in Czechoslovakia after the end of World War II. The organizer of their delivery (which required their complete re-equipment) was an American Jew, aircraft designer and pilot Sam (Shmuel) Pomerantz, who later died on another flight. Two-thirds of the pilot cadre was made up of volunteers, World War II veterans who arrived in Israel from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa and Australia, contrary to the ban of their countries. The newly formed aviation was directed against the Egyptians advancing on the center and ensured the complete victory of the IDF in this direction.

An interesting fact is that the Soviet Union helped in the War of Independence, which immediately after the creation of Israel established diplomatic relations with it. Despite his inherent anti-Semitism, Stalin wanted to strengthen his political influence in the Middle East and oust England, which supported the Arabs. On the other hand, he was impressed by the socialist character of the new state. As a result, Israel was able to buy weapons from communist Czechoslovakia with money (provided by the American Jewish community), which also accelerated the victory.

Behind the war is war

Jewish Brigade - British Army formation recruited from Palestinian Jews

In 1939, under pressure from the Arab nobility, the British severely limited the emigration of Jews in Palestine. Even the ships of those fleeing Hitler were turned around and sent back to Europe, sometimes to their death. In response, the military organizations of the Yishuv launched a guerrilla war against the British, making, however, a long pause for the Second World War - Hitler was a common terrible enemy, and the Jews fought against him along with the British.

Jews protesting against the British administration. 1939.

After the victory over Hitler, the Zionists attacked the British administration with renewed vigor: for example, in 1946, militants of the Etzel organization blew up the King David Hotel, where the headquarters of the administration was located, killing 91 people. Harsh pressure had an effect: in February 1947, the British transferred the Palestinian issue to the newly created UN.

Movement for the National Liberation of Palestine (Fatah)

In 1956, the Palestine National Liberation Movement (Fatah) was founded, later transformed into the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The PLO documents noted that only by armed means can the liberation of Palestine be achieved; Israel was denied the right to exist. PLO militants staged terrorist attacks more than once, and only in 1974 did the Organization proclaim a rejection of exclusively terrorist methods of action and a transition to a strategy that included political measures.

Two states for two peoples

UN plan to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab states

The UN decided that there could be no talk of a single state for Jews and Arabs—massacres would immediately begin. It was decided to divide the territory of the British Mandate into two states: Jewish (with an area of 14.1 thousand sq. km.) and Arab (11.1 thousand sq. km.), corresponding to places with a Jewish and Arab majority of the population. Jerusalem, the holy city of three religions, was declared an international zone.

The Yishuv agreed to such a plan, but the Arabs did not want to hear about it. “Palestine will be engulfed in fire and blood if the Jews receive any part of it,” promised a representative of the Arab Higher Committee. And yet, the UN made a decision: the creation of a Jewish state was supported by the USA and the USSR, two key political forces of the post-war period. Moreover, after the horrors of the Holocaust, it was impossible to deny the Jews the creation of a national home. The resolution on the partition of Palestine was adopted on November 29, 1947.

The first stage of the war [↑]

On November 30, Arab paramilitary forces and units attacked Jewish settlements in the vicinity of Jerusalem and Hebron, in the Negev, in the Upper Galilee, as well as in the Jewish areas of Haifa and Jerusalem.

In the first six months, when the Jews did not yet have a regular army, the battles were fought by the military organizations of Agan

Palmach
),
Etzel
and
Lehi
were later formed . They were created during the period of the British Mandate, when fighters were trained clandestinely in remote kibbutzim. At the same time, training of command personnel took place abroad - in Germany, Italy, Poland.

At the beginning of the war, 21 thousand soldiers were mobilized. The detachments formed from them suppressed the actions of armed Arabs.

Revolutionary War/Disaster

Immediately after David Ben-Gurion declared the independence of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, Israel's Arab neighbors: Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon, Iraq and others began to invade its territory. The attitude was uncompromising: Palestine must be Arab, Jews can go anywhere, or be thrown into the sea.

The Arabs failed. By July 1949, Israel had repulsed all attacks and defeated the invading armies, not only defending its territory, but also capturing 1,300 sq. km. beyond what was intended for it according to the UN plan. The rest of the territory intended for the creation of an Arab state in Palestine was taken under control by Egypt (Gaza Strip) and Jordan (West Bank and East Jerusalem).

Raising the flag in Eilat, marking the end of the war

War 1947-1949 entered the history of Israel as the War of Independence, but the Arabs call it Nakba - Catastrophe. It's not just a matter of military defeat: it was after this war that the tragedy of the Palestinian people began.

Even before the actual start of the war, Arabs began to flee en masse from the territory intended for the creation of a Jewish state: the total number of refugees, according to UN estimates, was 750,000. The reasons for the exodus are still being debated. Pro-Israeli historians insist that the Arabs left voluntarily; Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir recalls how she personally begged the Arabs of Haifa to stay. According to another point of view, Israeli armed organizations forced out the Arabs deliberately - through direct violence or threats

Six Day War

The 1956 war only exacerbated already existing tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Middle Eastern countries were feverishly preparing for a new war, replenishing their arsenals. Egypt had 1,200 tanks and 500 combat aircraft at its disposal thanks to supplies from the USSR and 200 thousand soldiers, Syria had 500 tanks and 100 aircraft. About 300 tanks and several dozen aircraft were in service with the Jordanian Arab Legion. The 260,000-strong IDF could oppose the Arab forces with 1,100 tanks and 230 aircraft.

Intractable Problem #1: Palestinian Refugees

Under the UN resolution, Israel must allow Arab refugees to return home or compensate for the loss of property. Israel, however, refuses to do this and is unlikely to agree in the foreseeable future. According to UN rules, direct descendants of Arabs who left Palestine in 1947-1949 are also considered refugees. (and also in 1967), accordingly, their number is already about 5 million people.

The Arabs of the city of Ramle leave the city. 1948.

For Israeli politicians, even the most liberal ones, the very idea of resettling so many Arabs into their state is unacceptable. The Arabs are demanding the right to return to Israel, and not to the Palestinian territories. There are now approximately 6.5 million Jews and 1.5 million Arabs living in Israel: given the demographics, such a transfer would turn the country into at least half Arab. Since Israel has always positioned itself as the national home of the Jewish people, this is impossible.

For their part, the Palestinians insist on their right to repatriation: for decades, refugees and their descendants have faced so much violence (in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, other countries) that their leaders believe they deserve return home, or compensation. Israel has no intention of providing either, insisting that such demands are virtually impossible to meet.

Battles for Jerusalem [↑]

Already from the end of November, from the moment the UN resolution was adopted, anarchy reigned in Jerusalem (which nominally continued to submit to Britain). The Jewish quarter of the Old City, home to about 2,000 people, found itself isolated. The Jewish areas of the new city were also blocked. Despite the Israeli victory at Kastel in April 1948 and the road to new areas of Jerusalem being temporarily open, the city—especially the Old City—was severely short of all sources of supply; water and food supplies were provided in very limited quantities.

In May 1948, fighting began in the Old City. The area was subjected to incessant artillery bombardment from the Transjordanian garrisons, and the number of casualties, mainly among the civilian population, increased day by day.

On May 28, the Old City was captured, civilians were allowed to leave, and the city's defenders were captured and taken to Transjordan. As one Jordanian commander reported, “for the first time in 1,000 years, not a single Jew remained in the Jewish Quarter; not a single building was left undamaged.”

The Old City, including the holiest Jewish site, the Temple Mount, remained under Jordanian rule until the Six-Day War in 1967. All these years, the Jewish capital stood devastated, dozens of synagogues and almost all houses were destroyed, the rest were used as stables and warehouses.

But the Arabs were unable to break through the defense of the western part of new Jerusalem. The battle for the city ended, leaving the western part in the hands of Israel, and the eastern part, the surrounding area of Mount Scopus and the holy places, in the hands of Transjordan.

Repeating mistakes

Almost twenty years passed between the two Arab wars. During this time, Israel accepted more and more new immigrants and strengthened its statehood. In many Arab countries, power changed: the old, pro-British or pro-French regimes left, young nationalists came, often left-wing and supported by the USSR - for example, Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918 - 1970), president of Egypt. However, the new leaders of the Arab countries were just as anti-Israeli as the old ones. “The outpost of imperialism—Israel—will be thrown into the sea,” Nasser promised.

Gamal Abdel Nasser

In 1967, Egypt and Syria concentrated large troops on the borders with Israel. The Jewish state considered this to be preparation for an attack and launched a preemptive strike on June 5. Having destroyed the Arab coalition air force in six days, Israel completely defeated the enemy in six days - these events went down in history as the Six-Day War. The West Bank of the Jordan River, which belonged to Jordan since 1949, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, which were under Egyptian control, and the Syrian Golan Heights - all of this went to Israel as a result of the war. East Jerusalem also came under his control.

Israeli territories after victory in the Six Day War

1956 war

In 1955, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser decided to purchase weapons from Czechoslovakia, which immediately transformed the confrontation between Israel and its Arab neighbors from a minor regional conflict into an important front of the Cold War. As a result of a series of anti-colonial revolutions, Arab countries, one after another, embarked on a path of rapprochement with the USSR, and Israel strengthened ties with the West: until 1967, with France and West Germany, and later with the USA.

The Cold War is the confrontation that arose after World War II between the USSR and its allies on the one hand and the United States and its allies on the other. It was expressed in the arms race, the creation of military bases and bridgeheads, the use of measures of economic pressure, etc. It was stopped in the late 80s. XX century

In 1956, Israel, together with England and France, took part in the aggression against Egypt. In this war, the Israeli leadership hoped to expand its lands at the expense of the Sinai Peninsula and hoped to minimize Egypt's military potential before it was able to master new Soviet weapons. England wanted to punish Egypt for the nationalization of British property - the Suez Canal, and the French government was angry with President Nasser for the assistance he provided to the rebels in Algeria. In planning the invasion of Egypt, the Anglo-French forces used the experience of the Normandy landings in 1944.

On October 29, Israeli troops invaded the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. Meeting virtually no resistance (the main Egyptian forces concentrated around the Suez Canal), Israeli troops occupied the Sinai and took control of the Strait of Tiran and Sharm el-Sheikh. On October 31, British and French planes bombed Egyptian airfields. On November 5, British and French paratroopers were dropped in the area of Port Said and Port Fauda, and on November 6, the landing of the main forces of the interventionists began from the sea. By November 7, Port Said, the key to the Suez Canal, was in Allied hands. The first large-scale use of helicopters to transport troops and equipment played an important role in this operation. But due to the intervention of the USSR and the USA, which condemned the “triple aggression” as a relapse of colonialism, England and France by December 22, 1956, and Israel by March 8, 1957, withdrew troops from Egypt.

Israeli soldiers celebrate victory. 1956

Intractable Problem #2: The Status of Jerusalem

In all negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, the status of the city, historically extremely important both for Muslims (in Arabic it is called Al-Quds - “sacred”) and for Jews, remains a stumbling block. Israel declared Jerusalem its unified and indivisible capital in 1980; the UN calls on the world community to consider such a decision illegal. US President Donald Trump's decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2017 sparked mass protests and the death of dozens of people.

Typically, during negotiations with Israel about a potential resolution to the conflict, the Palestinian side insists on a return to the “pre-1967” borders, recognizing the West Bank and Gaza Strip as the territory of a Palestinian state. As the 2000 negotiations showed, such a proposal could suit Israel. The problem is that until 1967, Jerusalem was not completely Israeli.

Israel refuses to grant the Palestinians rights to even half of the holy city, including for security reasons: from East Jerusalem, for example, the international airport is well under fire. In conditions where the Palestinian leadership can hardly be called politically stable, Israel believes that transferring control of East Jerusalem to it is impossible - not to mention the image losses.

The Arabs, by analogy with the Catastrophe-Nakba, call the Six-Day War of 1967 Naxa - Repetition. The defeat this time was even more inglorious, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs were again forced to flee their homes. Israeli casualties were less than 800, while Arab countries lost about 15,000 of their soldiers. Israel has tripled its territory compared to the pre-war period. There was an understanding that it would not be possible to “throw Israel into the sea.”

Daniil Demidov's blog

The Arab-Israeli conflict has existed for many years with variable short-term pauses since the Jewish people gained their own territory in 1948. The Arab world, in turn, was extremely dissatisfied with this fact, since territory was taken away from one of the countries belonging to the Arab world, Palestine. In 1948, a long-term, almost continuous war began, which continues to the present day.

Source: MIGnews.com

In May 2022, another conflict occurred between Israel and Hamas, which retains effective control in the Gaza Strip. In unrest in the West Bank during the conflict (10-21 May), one source estimates that 27 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces. Intercommunal protests and violence also occurred in Israel and Jerusalem—involving some Arab citizens of Israel, Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, Jewish nationalists, and Israeli authorities. Since then, the Biden administration appears to have focused on restoring regional calm and improving humanitarian conditions.

During the conflict, Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israeli populated areas, causing severe disruption to daily life and other problems for millions of Israelis. Israeli strikes against militants have primarily targeted targets in densely populated urban areas of Gaza. Although the IDF, as in previous conflicts, claimed to have taken measures to warn civilians of impending strikes, some strikes killed or wounded civilians and damaged residential areas. The humanitarian situation of civilians in Gaza is exacerbated by various factors, including deficiencies in infrastructure and health facilities, the coronavirus disease 2022 pandemic, and challenges in the delivery of essential utilities and resources. The fighting has worsened this plight due to damage to health facilities, water and sanitation infrastructure, and schools.

By entering into conflict with Israel, Hamas apparently sought to exploit tensions between Israel and Palestine over Jerusalem to boost its domestic popularity vis-à-vis the rival Fatah faction. In April, Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas - the Palestinian president in the West Bank - postponed plans for Palestinian elections in 2022, which many Palestinians had been eagerly awaiting. Abbas cited Israeli reluctance to allow East Jerusalem Palestinians to vote in Palestinian elections (which were scheduled for May) as the reason for the delay.

Rising tensions in Jerusalem have been fueled by provocations reportedly fueled by social media related to Israeli measures to restrict Palestinian movement and religious worship in and around the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif in the Old City, isolated Palestinian attacks and demonstrations by Jewish nationalist groups. . The unrest intensified in response to controversy over the possible eviction of several Palestinian families from their longtime homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem under an Israeli law that allows Jews to return property left behind due to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Israel's Supreme Court temporarily postponed hearings in the case amid the unrest, but a decision in the case could be made in mid-2022. Palestinian leaders and some activists and international figures say the case is part of Israel's systematic disregard for the rights of Palestinians in East Jerusalem since its capture and virtual annexation of the territory in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Critics of Israel's actions link the situation to concerns about Jewish settlement activity and other allegations that Israel is violating international law and the human rights of Palestinians.

Consequences of the conflict

It remains unclear whether the conflict has changed the positions of the main parties affected - Israel, Hamas and Palestine - towards each other. Factors that may influence further developments include:

· whether Hamas assesses that renewed conflict could increase its domestic popularity, as well as further fueling Arab-Jewish unrest in Israel and the West Bank;

· the extent to which Israeli measures (including the Iron Dome missile defense system and operations against Palestinian militants) prevent, deter or provoke further violence;

· violations or perceived violations of the “status quo” governing the practice of worship in the holy places of Jerusalem, especially Mount Haram;

· open questions regarding the stability of leadership in both Israel and Palestine;

· diplomacy and post-conflict assistance involving international players, including the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Arab states that have recently improved or attempted to improve their relations with Israel.

Observers have differing views on how the relatively greater volume and intensity of rocket attacks against Palestinian militants in the conflict could affect future military calculations. The two analysts argued that saturation tactics employed by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have achieved only limited success "as Iron Dome improvements have largely negated heavier loitering missiles." Another analyst wrote that these attacks have strained Israeli air defenses in such a way that "they may one day prove insufficient to thwart the volume of missiles," whether against a threat from Gaza or from other Iranian-backed actors such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. .

Israel as a deterrent in the Middle East

It can be said that Israel, in some way, is a deterrent to the radical Arab world. Many terrorist organizations, most of them based in the Middle East, have an ultimate goal - the creation of an Arab or Islamic caliphate. However, Israel in this case does not allow terrorist groups to achieve this goal by defending its territory. Of course, one should not deny the merit of Russia and other countries in the fight against international terrorism in the Middle East. However, without Israel constantly fighting, this would be much more difficult. Thus, Israel promotes the involvement of third countries in Middle Eastern processes. The conclusion is that the creation of an Arab/Islamic caliphate would be much easier with the complete destruction of Israel.

The leading countries of the world, with varying degrees of success, strive to cooperate with Israel, including for reasons of economic benefit, but this cooperation has political roots, since states cooperating with Israel have leverage over the situations occurring in the Middle East region. Due to constant hostilities against Israel, countries cooperating with it have the opportunity to stand up for their economic or political ally. In the future, this may entail the spread of influence of third countries in the Middle East, which is rich in natural resources. Another important factor is military action, since war is always an economic, and in some cases political, benefit for countries that produce weapons or have their own geostrategic goals.

Is peace possible between Israel and Palestine?

Many politicians and academic researchers spoke about the active normalization of Israel's relations with the countries of the Arab world, many suggested that the conflict was almost completely resolved, and the emergence of new hostilities was almost impossible, citing new treaties signed by Israel with some Arab countries on the recognition of Israel: UAE (subsequently an agreement on a visa-free regime), Sudan, Bahrain.

Another important factor could be recognition of Israel by Saudi Arabia, since Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, unlike his father, views relations with Israel solely from the perspective of economic benefits for his country, which would be a big breakthrough in relations between Israel and countries of the Arab world.

Despite all the positive movements in the Arab-Israeli conflict, Palestine and its interests were forgotten. Palestine is a direct participant in the conflict, defending its territorial, political and economic interests. It is also worth considering the Hamas organization, which actually controls the state (in the Gaza Strip) after the death of Yasser Arafat. Thus, unstable relations with Palestine once again led to full-fledged military operations with a large number of casualties.

UN officials and leaders of many countries have already spoken out on this issue, expressing concern about military action and calling on both countries to peacefully resolve the conflict. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the longer hostilities continue, the more elusive the chances for peace in the region become.

Taking into account all kinds of calls from leaders and officials of international organizations, the government of US President Joe Biden has approved a deal to sell precision weapons to Israel in the amount of about $735 million. This fact may indicate that there can be no talk of any cessation of hostilities. Another pause in this conflict is possible for some time, but there is no need to talk about a full end to the war and a settlement of the conflict. This deal is beneficial for the United States, both from a financial and political point of view, in order to strengthen its slightly shaky position since the beginning of Russia’s active participation in the region.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called on both countries to respect international law, which is completely ignored. She also accused the leaders of both countries of making inflammatory statements instead of trying to reduce aggression and violence.

Thus, we can conclude that non-compliance with international law does not in any way affect the policies of third countries, if this does not contradict their plans and goals, since so far no decisive measures have been taken to resolve the conflict either by the UN or by of any state.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has existed for a long time, and to this day there has been no significant progress in resolving this issue. Moreover, military operations become more destructive with the advent of new weapons. The constant war between Palestine and Israel causes destabilization in the region and gives rise to new conflicts. The leading countries, as well as the UN, need to take decisive measures to resolve this conflict, as it can give rise to new ones, both in the region and around the world. In addition, the conflict has a negative effect on the economic and political components of many countries.

For Russia, according to President Putin, this conflict plays an important role, since, according to the President, “it directly affects the interests of our security.” Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov explained the words of V.V. Putin in that the region has an extremely unstable security system and with further spread of the conflict this could lead to a direct threat to the Russian Federation. Consequently, Russia needs to be guided primarily by its own security and make active attempts to resolve this conflict.

Based on all of the above, the conclusion follows that peace between Palestine and Israel in the near future does not look like something promising or achievable. The differences in political and religious views are too great. In addition, the parties do not seek to make any concessions, wanting to extract maximum benefits for themselves. Moreover, the situation is leading to further armed conflicts. Without concessions from one of the parties, even with the intervention of third states, the conflict will not be stopped completely and sooner or later will flare up again.

The Arab-Israeli conflict is not the same as the Arab-Palestinian conflict

Palestinian combatants.
1969. It is important not to confuse the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with the broader Arab-Israeli conflict - after the Six Day War and especially the death of Nasser, who united the Arab world, the further, the more all participants in the previously united anti-Israeli front (Egypt, Jordan, Syria) acted, pursuing only own interests.

Pragmatism has been and continues to be hidden under loud and constant statements about “Arab unity” and “support for the Palestinian brothers,” but in fact, the fate of the Palestinians is at best their concern.

Yasser Arafat and Muammar Gaddafi

For example, after the creation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964, King Hussein of Jordan (1935-1999) became noticeably tense: Palestinian fedayeen militants staged guerrilla attacks on Israeli border outposts from Jordan and the IDF did not hesitate to carry out punitive retaliatory actions .

This couldn't go on for long. “We are all fedayeen!” Hussein exclaimed after a successful attack on the Palestinians in 1968, and two years later, after PLO leader Yasser Arafat’s threats to seize power in a country where there were already more Palestinians than Jordanians, he expelled all Palestinian armed organizations to Lebanon. In this case, 3,400 Palestinians were killed.

Hussein ibn Talal - King of Jordan

Anwar Sadat, the president of Egypt (1918-1981), made an even more dramatic political somersault. Having lost another Arab-Israeli war in 1973 (the October War or the Yom Kippur War in the Jewish tradition), Sadat began negotiating peace with Israel. According to one version, he started the war itself only in order to secure a starting position for negotiations.

Anwar Sadat

In 1979, through the mediation of US President Jimmy Carter, peace was signed and diplomatic relations were established. Thus, Sadat violated the principle of unity of the Arab world by not recognizing Israel and caused enormous indignation among the Arabs (he was killed in 1981), but he returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt and changed Egypt’s political orientation to pro-American, receiving the status of one of the key US allies outside NATO.

The weaker Jordan could not make such a demarche, looking at the position of the Arab world, but in the end it also signed a peace treaty with Israel and established diplomatic relations - albeit much later, in 1994. It cannot be said that now Egypt and Jordan are friends with Israel (the “Zionist entity” hates their population too much for this), but the situation of “cold peace” suits the politicians of all three countries. Unity with the Palestinians is wonderful, but your own interests are more important.

"War of attrition"

Gamal Abdel Nasser - Prime Minister (1954-1956) and President (1956-1970) of Egypt

The defeat of 1967 was too catastrophic for the Arab countries to accept. The Israeli leadership soon became convinced that the demonstration of the superiority of the Israeli military machine was not capable of forcing the governments of the Arab states to conclude peace on terms favorable to Israel. On the contrary, the defeat in the Six-Day War forced the Arab countries to hastily modernize their armed forces in order to eliminate their qualitative gap from the Israeli army. The Soviet Union played a huge role here, thereby wanting to strengthen its influence in the Middle East. A few weeks after the end of the Six-Day War, large quantities of Soviet weapons, equipment and equipment began to arrive in Egypt and Syria to compensate for their losses in the war. In addition, the USSR sent hundreds of military advisers to the Egyptians and Syrians to assist in mastering new equipment. The most prominent figure among the Soviet officers was the energetic Marshal of the Soviet Union Matvey Zakharov. It was largely thanks to his efforts that the Egyptian army rose from the ashes.

For his part, Egyptian President Nasser carried out serious purges in the officer corps, removing many incompetent officers from among the old feudal nobility and replacing them with capable people from the lower classes. Measures were taken to improve relations between soldiers and officers.

Very soon these measures bore first fruit. In October 1967, in the Port Said area, Egyptian Komar-class missile boats sent the Israeli destroyer Eilat to the bottom with three missiles. The Israelis lost 47 people killed and 90 people wounded. The success inspired the Arabs. In response, the Israelis bombed Egyptian ports from the air and carried out a series of demonstrative sabotage raids, during which they damaged bridges on the Nile and other strategically important Egyptian installations.

In mid-1969, Nasser announced that he was starting a “war of attrition” against Israel. Its goal was to inflict significant losses on the Israelis in manpower. For this purpose, artillery forces and special forces units were involved. In response to Nasser's challenge, the Israelis began to hastily strengthen their positions along the Suez Canal, called the Bar-Lev Line. It was a chain of forts connected by a system of sandy anti-tank embankments and ditches, which in the event of an enemy attack were filled with burning oil.

The peak of hostilities in the “war of attrition” occurred in 1969–1971. In addition to the Egyptians and Israelis, Soviet military specialists also actively participated in the hostilities. It was anti-aircraft gunners from the USSR who staffed the crews of the new air defense systems - SAM-3, installed in the summer of 1970 after massive Israeli air raids on targets in Egypt. In July of the same year, the Israelis shot down four MiG-21 aircraft piloted by Soviet pilots.

As a result, the “war of attrition” did not bring victory to either side. But between 1968 and 1973, the Egyptians and Syrians were able to eliminate the most glaring shortcomings of their armies and prepare for revenge for the 1967 defeat.

Terrorist attacks, protests, negotiations

Terrorist attack at the Munich Olympics, 1972. German police dressed as athletes make their way across the rooftops to the hostages

For many years, the PLO behaved like a terrorist organization that accepted any methods of struggle against Israel: killing civilians, hijacking planes, taking hostages. The most memorable PLO terrorist attack was the murder of Jewish athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Terrorists from Europe and Japan “trained” in PLO training camps in Lebanon. In addition, in the 1970s, Yasser Arafat and his associates practically destroyed Lebanon: controlling the southern part of the country, they acted as one of the parties in a protracted and very complicated civil war, in which Israel, Syria and the international UN contingent also managed to participate. In total, 144,000 people died in the Lebanon War.

Arafat himself, however, always disowned the most odious acts of the PLO, declaring that the militants who committed them had left the Organization, and tried to behave like a respectable politician. In 1988, speaking at the UN, he said that the PLO would now recognize the existence of Israel and condemned “terrorism in all forms, including state terrorism.” In essence, it was a proposal for direct negotiations.

The first intifada. 1988

Israel by that time was exhausted by the intifada - a large-scale civil act of disobedience by Palestinians living in territories controlled by Israel. Dissatisfied with Israeli policies and the violation of their rights, residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip attacked police and soldiers and threw stones and sticks. In some places the intifada was more like a war - for 1987-1993. More than 100 Israelis and more than 2,000 Palestinian Arabs died.

Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995), Prime Minister of Israel, understood that without negotiations with the PLO as the most direct representative of the interests of the Palestinian people, peace would never come in Israel. “I wish Gaza would just drown in the sea, but that won’t happen,” he joked darkly in private conversations, “So we need to find a solution.”

Invasion by the United Arab Armed Forces

The second stage of the war began in May 1948 after the declaration of Israeli independence. At the same time, military units of five Arab armies invaded the territory of Palestine. Their goal was the complete destruction of Israel, which had just gained independence, and the formation of a unified Palestinian state with an ethnically mixed population.

This action was planned in advance and began on the night of May 15, 1948. At that time, the numerical superiority was already on the side of the Arabs. Their armies then numbered a total of up to 50 thousand people, while the Haganah’s personnel did not exceed 40-42 thousand people, which included women and teenagers. In addition, the Israelis experienced an acute shortage of weapons and ammunition. It is known that at the time of the invasion of the united Arab forces, the Jews had at their disposal only 20 thousand rifles, 10 thousand machine guns (mostly homemade) and 15,000 machine guns. Thus, there were not enough weapons for all the defenders of Israel.

Successes and failures

Yitzhak Rabin, Clinton and Yasser Arafat. September 13, 1993, Washington

Through the mediation of US President Clinton, Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat launched the Oslo process - a series of meetings in the Norwegian capital, where they discussed options for a possible solution to the Palestinian problem. As a result, in 1993-1995. managed to reach an interim agreement. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was created; in fact, the Palestinian government, the Gaza Strip and a small part of the West Bank came under its administrative control. At the same time, Israel still controlled the borders of the PNA; there was no talk of independence yet - it was to be the subject of the next stage of negotiations.

The pursuit of peace in the Middle East conflict often comes at a cost. In 1995, Yitzhak Rabin, the prime minister who signed peace with Jordan and opened the way to peace with the Palestinians, was shot dead by right-wing radical Yigal Amir, “defending the people of Israel from the Oslo Accords.”

Intractable Problem #3: Jewish Settlements in the West Bank

City of Salfit, West Bank

Like Yigal Amir, many right-wing Israelis are categorically against Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank, which is essential to the creation of a Palestinian state. The fact is that after 1967, Israel first spontaneously and then organizedly built settlements in these territories, which were actually designated by the UN for the creation of an Arab state - but for the religious part of the Israelis these are Judea and Samaria, sacred lands that providence returned to the Jews, and, therefore, they must remain with them.

Orthodox Jews against the police

There are now 120 settlements in the West Bank that were approved for construction, and approximately 100 more that were built illegally, even from the Israeli government's point of view. The Palestinians, of course, consider all these settlements illegal - their residents are often victims of terrorist attacks and attacks. But, as a rule, these are religious orthodox people who consider it their duty to live on the frontier, thereby returning the sacred land to the fold of Israel. Construction is only expanding, which is not conducive to Palestinian peace and makes the prospect of returning the West Bank to the Palestinians increasingly difficult - the settlers will simply refuse to leave their homes.

Capture of Deir Yassin [↑]

The central event of the first stage of the war was the capture of Deir Yassin, an Arab village on the western outskirts of Jerusalem, which was used as a base for attacks on Jerusalem and the roads leading into it.

In front of the Jewish fighters was an armored vehicle with a loudspeaker, from which they called on the local population to leave the village. All who voluntarily laid down their arms were guaranteed life.

In response, armed Arabs holed up in the houses of Deir Yassin responded with fire. Their resistance was broken, and the nest of terrorists ceased to exist. The site of this village is now the site of the Ar-Nof

After the Jewish victory, Arab propaganda spread false information about the “atrocities at Deir Yassin.” However, their effect turned out to be the opposite: instead of the desire to fight, the Arabs were gripped by fear and despair, they began to leave their homes in panic and fled to neighboring Arab countries. There they were going to wait for the invasion of regular armies in order to return to Palestine after the Jews were “thrown into the sea.” 60,000 Arabs left Haifa, and almost 100,000 from Jaffa, Tiberias, Safed and Beit She'an.

Failed summit at Camp David

Ehud Barak, Clinton and Yasser Arafat. Camp David Summit, 2000

Despite Rabin's death, the peace process continued. Its apogee was to be the 2000 summit at Camp David (USA), where Arafat and the new Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, through the mediation of Bill Clinton, could sign an agreement on the creation of a full-fledged Palestinian state. But this did not happen. Arafat was not offered the restoration of sovereignty over East Jerusalem and the repatriation of all Palestinian refugees, and his demand for the complete evacuation of Israeli troops from the territory of the future Palestinian state was not accepted. As a result, the agreement was not signed.

Ehud Barak blamed Yasser Arafat for his position preventing peace from finally being concluded. Bill Clinton shared this position. When Arafat called him a “great man” in a conversation, Clinton replied: “I am not a great man, I am a failure, and you made me one” (he put a lot of effort into resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but ultimately failed). Arafat, for his part, said that Barak and Clinton forced him to come to the “summit for the sake of the summit,” although preliminary preparations showed that the parties were not ready for negotiations. Immediately after the summit, the second intifada began, which lasted five years.

Arafat died in 2004. Clinton is no longer the President of the United States, and Barak is no longer the Prime Minister of Israel. Not since 2000 has the prospect of peace between Israel and the Palestinians been closer than at Camp David. Moreover, she was only moving away.

Battles for Castel [↑]

The focus of the armed struggle was Jerusalem. The troops of the ruler of Transjordan, Abdullah, kept the Jewish part of the city surrounded for nine months. The main struggle for the city took place on the heights and in the valley where the road from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv passed.

Above the road rose a hill called Castel (“behind the

mok"
in Hebrew
). The Jews unsuccessfully tried more than once to drive the Arabs out of there, but they were commanded by Abdul Khader Al Husseini, the most capable of the Arab military leaders.

In April 1948, a heavy battle took place for Mount Kastel, which involved soldiers who had just arrived in the Land of Israel and had only three or four days of training. For several days, Castel was in Jewish hands, and the path to Jerusalem was temporarily open.

The Arabs tried several times to recapture the heights, but to no avail. And only 5 days later, reinforcements approached the Arabs, and in a difficult battle they drove the Jews out of Kastel. But during the battle, the fighters, not knowing who they were shooting at, killed an Arab, who turned out to be Al-Husseini. Despite the victory, the spirit of the Arab troops was broken.

Degradation

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon tried to implement the joke of the deceased Rabin, “I wish Gaza would drown in the sea,” in a lighter form. As part of the “unilateral disengagement” plan in 2005, Sharon left the Gaza Strip to its own fate: he withdrew all troops from there and liquidated the settlements. As a result, Hamas Islamists quickly came to power in Gaza, pushing aside the more moderate representatives of the PNA, and began firing rockets at Israel; in response, Israel imposed an economic blockade of the sector.

Sharon's move was considered unsuccessful - now overpopulated, hungry, Islamist-controlled Gaza is more than ever a source of instability for Israel: Israel has already carried out military operations to clear the strip three times (in 2008, 2012 and 2014). In addition, the existing dual power in the ranks of the Palestinians: Gaza is ruled by Hamas, the West Bank is ruled by the PNA, which even fought with each other, does not contribute to simplifying peace negotiations.

Uncompromising Islamists from Hamas are becoming increasingly popular among Palestinians, while in Israel, since 2009, the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu has been in power, which is pursuing a tough policy towards the Palestinians and expanding settlement construction.

Benjamin Netanyahu

Given the unambiguously pro-Israel policy of the Donald Trump administration, Netanyahu has no deterrents: he has the support of a key Israeli ally. Moreover, the international community has no time for the Palestinians right now. More recent and acute conflicts are on the agenda: the war in Syria, the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the North Korean nuclear program. It is obvious that there will be explosions and bloodshed in Israel and the Palestinian territories for a long time to come. There is simply no one to solve the Palestinian problem now.

Tragedy in Gush Etzion [↑]

The most tragic event of the first stage of the war was the attack by Abdullah’s troops on Jewish settlements in Gush Etzion (the area south of Jerusalem), which controlled the Jerusalem-Hebron road.

In January 1948, Agana

sent there, as reinforcements, 35 soldiers who were supposed to reach their destination on foot. On the way they met an old Arab shepherd and did not touch him. The old man spoke about the appearance of the militia, and soon soldiers of the Transjordanian Legion surrounded the detachment. All 35 people died in the battle. The settlements of Gush Etzion were also captured.