I. Introduction
Since the 1948, there were a lot of wars between the Arab world and Israel and those wars cost the Arab countries more and more soldiers and civilian lives than they did for Israel. The questions for diplomatic settlements to the wars emerged with the gradual recognitions of the existence of the Jewish State resulted from the Arab’s failures of wars against the Israelis people. Those wars took years to come to a remarkable end with the 1973 war and diplomatic solutions backed by superpowers the US and Russia. There were many factors including wars and peace treaties done by both parties with variety of diplomatic activities contributed to the peace process in the conflict. However, I will go deep in identifying and explaining the roles and impacts of diplomacy over the wars. That will emphasize the values and effectiveness of the diplomacy in ending 1948, 1967, 1973 wars.
The research paper is conducted in order to achieve three objectives. First, it is to identify the main roles and impacts of diplomacy over the Arab-Israel Wars. Second, it is to identify and explain the main causes of each Arab-Israel wars from 1948 to 1973. Finally, it is to explain the effectiveness of diplomacy for ending the Arab-Israel wars.
What are the roles and impacts of diplomacy over the Arab-Israeli wars?
What are the main roles of diplomacy for solving the Arab-Israeli wars?
What are the main causes of the Arab-Israeli wars?
What are the main diplomatic solutions to the Arab-Israeli wars?
1.4 Research Significance
This research paper will provide us with three different significances. First, it will make clear that the diplomacy, a needed role to solve interstate wars which was indicated precisely in the Arab-Israeli wars settlements, is the most effective way to settle interstate wars in the history of International Relations. Second, it will prove that wars will put both sides in the destructive situation so wars shouldn’t be considered as a productive way at all for both conflicting parties. Finally, it will give some practical examples for future conflict resolution in both regional and global levels.
II. Arab-Israeli Wars: Main Causes
There were a lot of wars between Arab and Israel since Israel got independence in 1948, which was also recognized and supported by the United Nation. Fighting between Jews and Palestinians erupted in Palestine right after the U.N. partition plan was approved on November 28, 1947. Later, the Arab states neighboring Palestine such as Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon attacked Israel promptly on its declaration of statehood on May 15, 1948 right after the withdrawal of British high commissioner from Palestine (Morris 2012); however, Israel won a decisive military victory by early 1949 at the cost of 6,000 Jewish lives. In June 1967, the combined armies of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan (FINE 1968, 120-122) attacked Israel again with the clear purpose expressed by Egypt’s President: “Destruction of Israel.” At the end of what is now known as the Six-Day War, Israel was victorious and in possession of the territories of the West Bank, Sinai and the Golan Heights at the cost of 987 Jewish lives and 4,517 wounded. Even though Arab countries have been defeated again and again since 1948, Egypt and Syria still waged wars against Israel in 1973 but this time with specific purposes of reaching a hurting stalemate for Israel to the negotiation table and taking their lands which were occupied by Israel in the Six-day war. The war, also called the Yom Kippur War, is the most traumatic event in Israel’s short, modern history with 2,222 Israeli dead and 5,596 wounded. The Arab-Israel wars made us eager to know what the causes of those wars were; therefore, in the following sections, those causes will be discussed and identified from 1948 to 1973 war.
2.1 The 1948 War of Independence
To answer the question of what made the War of Independence happened, we have to trace back to the year before the Independence. By 1947 Jews comprised 37 percent of Palestine's population while Arabs comprised nearly 63 percent. In 1945 the Zionist leadership in Palestine launched a violent revolt against British rule and pressed by this revolt Britain decided to withdraw from Palestine in 1947 and threw the problem into the lap of the new United Nations. The U.N. devised a partition plan that divided Palestine into two states: a Jewish state on 55 percent of Palestine, an Arab state on 42 percent, and 3 percent forming an international zone including Jerusalem. Both states lacked defensible borders. The Zionists accepted the plan although Zionist leaders did not accept as final the borders it laid down for Israel because they aimed for more. The Arabs rejected the plan because they rejected the Jews' right to a state in Palestine. They also disputed the fairness of a partition that awarded 55 percent of Palestine's territory to a Jewish community comprising only 37 percent of Palestine's population.
Therefore, fourth causes of the 1948 war are identified here. First, the rejection of Jews’ right to a state in Palestine was the major cause of the war since both Palestinian people and Arab countries considered the existence of Israel as their disaster. Second, the fairness of a partition that awarded 55 percent of Palestine’s territory to a Jewish community comprising only 37 percent of Palestine’s population is another cause. As we indicated above, Arabs were comprised of 63 percent in 1947. Third, bad borders that bred insecurity and perceived opportunity on both sides were also contributed to the emergence of the war. Finally, Arab false optimism was simultaneously another cause of the war because Arab countries at that time underestimated Israelis defense capacity (Morris 2012).
2.2 The 1967 War
To find out causes of the Six-Day War, we should observe when the Egyptian President Nasser sparked this war inadvertently. On May 14, 1967 he triggered a crisis he thought he could control, perhaps to deter an Israeli attack on Syria. Nasser made war inevitable by ordering the closing of the Strait of Tiran to Israeli shipping. Israel attacked Egypt on June 5, 1967. Jordan foolishly joined the war, sparking Israeli seizure of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. As a final Israel conquered Syria's Golan Heights. For several years after 1967 the Arab states ended all talks with Israel, instead declaring the Three No's of Khartoum such as no negotiations with Israel, no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel in October 1967 (FINE 1968).
Through observation of the Egyptian moves, we can figure out several causes of the 1967 war. First, Israel's insecure borders and sense of insecurity were one cause of the war. Second, a first-move advantage between Egyptian and Israeli forces was another cause. Third, another cause is the hatred belligerent Arab toward Israel, leading to rhetorical overbidding against Israel by Arab nationalist leaders (including Egypt's Nasser), which intoxicated Arab streets and elites, which pushed Arabs forward. Fourth, false optimism in Egypt that underestimated the Israel military capacity compare to the Arab World was one contributing cause to the war. Fifth, the rejection of the Jews’ right to a state with the purpose of wiping out Israel from the World map was the major cause of the war (Giancola 2013).
2.3 The 1973 war
The war happened again between Egypt-Syria and Israel when Egypt tried and failed to use limited war along the Suez Canal to coerce Israel into negotiating the return of the Sinai. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat organized an Egyptian-Syrian surprise attack on Israel after Israel spurned his peace feelers. Israel won but at a high cost: 3,000 dead. Israel learned that it could not command the Arabs with impunity (Baxter 1994).
` Through the above study, we realized that there were certainly causes of the Yom Kippur War. First, a first strike advantage between Israeli and Egyptian/Syrian forces is one of all causes. Second, Israel's sense of insecurity, leading Israel to retain its 1967 conquests, caused an Arab war to regain them. Finally, false Israeli optimism, leading Israel to see no need to negotiate these territories' return, was viewed as the main cause of the war (Brown 2012).
III. Diplomatic Settlements
A war isn’t the right way for states to solve interstate conflicts; therefore, there is an emergence of another alternative called diplomacy as another way to end wars and make peace among warring states. Talking about the Arab-Israel wars, diplomatic means have been used to end those wars to avoid the loss of both soldiers and civilian lives. Those diplomatic settlements are involved in bilateral agreements and the United Nations Interventions.
3.1 Bilateral Agreements
There were a lot of bilateral agreements between Israel and Arab world to end wars. The first bilateral agreement was to end 1948 with war separate 1949 bilateral Armistice Agreements with Egypt on 24 February, Lebanon on 23 March, Jordan on 3 April, and Syria on 20 July. The Armistice Demarcation Lines, as set by the agreements, saw the territory under Israeli control encompassing approximately three-quarters of Mandate Palestine. This was about one-third more than was allocated to the Jewish State under the UN partition proposal. The armistice lines were known afterwards as the "Green Line". The Gaza Strip and the West Bank were occupied by Egypt and Jordan respectively (Morris 2012). The second bilateral agreement to end the Six-day war happened when Egypt accepted the UN Security Council’s call for a cease-fire on June 8, 1967 and, on June10, the Syrians agreed to a cease fire which went into force on the northern sector at 16: 30 GMT (Giancola 2013). Final bilateral agreement happened when the Egyptian-Israeli “separation of Forces” agreement (known also as “the first disengagement agreement”) was signed on January 18, 1974 and the Syrian-Israeli Agreement on Disengagement which was finally signed on May 31, 1974 (Gawrych 1996).
3.2 UN Interventions
The United Nations were involved deeply in the Arab-Israel wars by initiated a lot of cease-fires and issued many resolutions to respond the Arab-Israel wars. To ensure the implementation from both sides, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) was established under UN Security Council Resolution 50 of 29 May 1948 during the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, which called for the cessation of hostilities in Palestine and for the truce to be supervised by a United Nations Mediator with the assistance of military observers. Here were the UNTSO’s activities.
3.3.1 UNTSO 1949 to 1967
In early 1949, four General Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and its Arab neighbors. UNTSO’s main responsibility now was to assist the parties in supervising the application and observance of the General Armistice Agreements. The General Armistice Agreements were to be administered by four Mixed Armistice Commissions under the chairmanship of the Chief of Staff UNTSO and were comprised of equal number of delegates from Israel and the Arab states concerned .
3.3.2 UNTSO 1967 to 1973
UNTSO played a role in helping to bring the June 1967 war to an end. In July1967, after an agreement by each parties, UNTSO observation posts were established on each sides of their borders. The main task of the observers was to observe and report on breaches of the cease fire, including firings, over flights, and movements forward. Cease-fire observation was stopped soon after the outbreak of the October 1973 war. The UNTSO has played a role as a peacekeeper in the Middle East until now .
IV. Conclusion
As you can see, the wars between Arab and Israel happened with two stark differences. For Arabs, their wars against Israel have been in the purposes of destructing Israel completely. For example, Arab League Secretary-General Azzam Pasha in 1948 said: “This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades.” Later in the 1967 war, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser: “Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel.” Israel in contrast has been proved undefeatable and has been superior in defense capacity over its Arab neighbors. No matter how many times the Arab countries have tried to defeat Israel but the final result they themselves have been always defeated even if they are cooperated as one. That was and is always a hurting stalemate for Arab countries to choose diplomatic rather than military means in solving their conflict with Israel. That scenario has proved that diplomacy has played an important role to end not only the wars but the conflict in the Middle East as whole.
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