Figure 1.-- |
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Foreign countries have from the beginning played a major role in the Israeli-Arab conflict. The Ottoman
Empire allowed the first Zionist settlers. Britain seized Palestine during World War I and was the mandate power
governing Palestine until after World War II and partition (1948). The neighboring Arab or front line states invaded
Palestine to support Palestinian irregulars in an effort to destroy Israel (1948-49). The major countries involved in
the invasion were Egypt, Syria, and Jordon. The strongest was Egypt which deployed armor forces. The most
professional military force was the British trained Arab Legion. Somehow the Hagenah which became the core of the
Israel Defense Force, without access to heavy weapons, managed to hold on to the area assigned in the U.N. partition.
The front-line states joined by other Arab states refused to recognize or negotiate with Israel. They also did not
assist the Palestinians establish a state. They began decades of building up military forces to destroy Israel and
supporting guerrilla operations against Israel. Jordan's King Abdullah who supported a more moderate approach was
assassinated. The Soviets who had voted for partition changed its policy and played a major role in the Arab arms
buildup. The United States voted for partition, but until after the Six Days War played only a minor role in the
conflict. After repeated military defeats, Egypt's President Anwar Sadat decided to make peace and was assassinated.
The overthrow of the Shaw in Iran brought to power an Islamic Republic which joined the fight against Israel.
Britain issued the Balfour Declaration during World War I advocating a Jewish Homeland for Jews in Palestine
(1917). The British in an offensive from Egypt seized Palestine during the last year of World War I (1917-18).
Britain became the mandate power under the League of Nations. British efforts to establish a local government were
opposed by the Palestinian Arabs. While majority rule would have given them control, the more radical leaders like
the Grand Mufti objected to the constitutional rights that would have been granted minorities in a secular state.
The Balfour Declaration was ambiguous as to just what a Jewish homeland meant. Increasingly British policy was
influenced by the importance of oil and the need to develop good relations with the Arab nationalist forces and the
new Arab states rising in the area. The British carried out the First Partition which separated Trans Jordan as a
separate state. British efforts to cultivate the Arabs was complicated after Hitler's seizure of power in Germany.
Many Arab nationalists were impressed with the NAZIs, both because of their anti-British and French policies and
their anti-Semitic policies. As Hitler's power grew, Arab nationalists saw them as an ally in expelling the British
and French from the region. No real thought was given as to just what the future would hold for Arabs in world
dominated by NAZI Germany and Fascist Italy. The Grand Mufti helped orchestrate anti-British and anti-Jewish riots
(1938-39). Britain governed Palestine until it began ungovernable after World War II as violence escalated
between the Arabs and Jews. The Irgun attack on the King David Hotel was a turning point in British policy. After
the United Nations voted for partition, Britain began to withdraw (1947). When Israel declared in independence the
last British units were departing (1948).
Czechoslovakia after World War II played a key role in equipping the Jewish Agency (JA) with modern military weapons. This was at a time that the British attempted to prevent the Jews from obtaining weapons while the Arab Governments (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt) surrounding Palestine were well armed with modern weapons. The JA after the UN Partition vote launched a major effort to obtain weapons as part of Operation Balak (June 1947). Most countries refused to sell weapons under the excuse that selling weapons would escalate violence. After Israel
declared its independence, the JA became the Israeli Government and continued a desperate search for weapons as the
surrounding Arab Governments invaded. One country that did sell Israel weapons was Czechoslovakia. This began
before the Communist take over in the country. Czechoslovakia like most of Europe was devastated by World War II and
thus export sales in hard currency was attractive. This was especially the case as the Czechs possessed large
quantities of weapons seized from the defeated Germany Army. These weapons were of little value to the Czechs and
the opportunity to sell them a real opportunity. Czech industrial plants were a key part of the German war
economy. And these plants turned out German-designed weapons which could be sold. The Czech Ministry of National Defense (Secretariat D) under General J. Heřman negotiated the sales. There does not seem to have been any commitment to Israel on the part of the Czechs, but rather the commercial benefits motivated the Czech sales. The first large contracts included 200 MG 34 machine guns, 4,500 P-18 rifles and 50.4 million rounds of ammunition (January 14, 1948). At the time the Israeli Defense Agency (IDA) had only a hodge-podge of small arms. More and heavier weapons followed. Thus ironically, NAZI weapons played a key role in establishing Israel. The Czechs also provided military aircraft and helped train pilots. Some of the aircraft reached Israel through Yugoslavia. The Czech arms were the first high-quality military-grade arms the Israelis were able to obtain in any numbers and thus played a key role in their success in the First Arab-Israeli War (1948-49). The Communists had not yet seized control of Czechoslovakia when the arms sales to Israel began. Even so the Communists were already very important and the Red Army still occupied the country. These sales could not have been made without Soviet knowledge or if Stalin had objected. After the Communists seized control of the Government the sales were continued for a time. Stalin was, however, reassessing policy toward Israel and the Arabs. The Czech Government ended the arms sales (October 1949). From this point, Czech foreign policy including relations with Israel and the Arabs, like those of the other Soviet Eastern European satellite states, were dictated in Moscow.
The neighboring Arab or front line states invaded Palestine to support Palestinian irregulars in an effort to
destroy Israel (1948-49). The most important country involved was Egypt, because of its size. Egypt deployed armor
forces. Somehow the Hagenah which became the core of the Israel Defense Force, without access to heavy weapons,
managed to hold on to the area assigned in the U.N. partition.
The front-line states joined by other Arab states refused to recognize or negotiate with Israel. They also did not
assist the Palestinians establish a state. They began decades of building up military forces to destroy Israel and
supporting guerrilla operations against Israel. This effort was led by Colonel Gamul Abdulh Nasser and the Free
Officers who ousted King Farouk in Egypt. After repeated military defeats, Egypt's President Anwar Sadat decided to
make peace and was assassinated. (When Yasser Arafat at Camp David explained that he would not survive signing his name to the peace agreement, he was probably accurately assessing the situation.)
France was a major actor in the Middle East following the Napoleonic Wars. It moved against the Barbary Pirates
and launched the colonization of Algeria (1830s). Tunisia and Morocco were subsequently converted into
protectorates. The British and French during World War I in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement (February 1916) essentially divided the non-Turkish areas of the Ottoman Empire between themselves (1916). After the War, France obtained a League if Nations mandate for Syria and Lebanon. France after World War II granted Independence to both Syria and Lebanon and subsequently to Tunisia and Morocco. Even after the Vietnam disaster, France decided to make a stand in Algeria which it considered to be an integral part of the country and not a colony. The resulting war almost tore France apart. DeGualle returned to power and finally extricated France from Algeria, ending the civil war (1961). France had a large arms industry, but a rather small national economy to support arms development and production on the same level as America and the Soviet Union. This was especially the case after leaving NATO which coordinates member arms production. France helped to finance its arms development with export sales. France was thus a major supplier of arms to Israel. The Israeli Air Force was built around the Mirage interceptors and faced much larger Arab air forces supplied by the Soviets. At a critical point President DeGualle cut off deliveries of further aircraft. It was a major blow to the Israels. Even so, the Israelis managed to win the Six Days War with what they had. We are not sure why DeGualle decided to tilt to the Arabs. There were certainly larger potential sales to the Arabs, but there may have been other reasons such as recognizing the Arabs as the principal Middle Eastern power and the primary source of French oil imports. After cutting off sales to Israel, France became a major arms supplier to the Arabs, including Iraq. France even provided the technology for a nuclear facility in Iraq. President Pompidou visited the United States (1970). He was booed at a pro-Israeli demonstration in Chicago. Mme Pompidou immediately returned to Paris. The incident embittered U.S.-French relations for some time. Mitterrand brought the Socialists to power in France (1981). He was the first Socialist president elected by popular vote. He displayed, however, an almost Gaulist, nationalist approach to foreign policy rather than what might be expected from a Socialist president. In the Middle East, he shifted the Arab tilt of French foreign policy to a more even-handed approach toward Israel. He basically ignored the Israeli attack on the French-built nuclear facility in Iraq (1981). He was the first French president to visit Israel (1982).
The overthrow of the Shah in Iran brought to power an Islamic Republic which joined the fight against Israel
(1979).
Britain seized Palestine from the Ottoman Empire in the closing phase of World War I (1917-18). The League of
Nations mandated Britain to administer Palestine. More than three-fourths of the British Mandate of Palestine was
east of the Jordan river and became known as Transjordan. It was separated from Palestine by the First Partition.
The Arab authorities prohibited Jews from living in Jordan. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was created by the
British in part to reward Sherif Abdullah for his role in fighting the Turks during World War I. The Transjordanian Parliament proclaimed King Abdullah as the first ruler of the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. Jordan under King Abdulah was one of the Front line Arab states which invaded Palestine in an effort to destroy Israel (1948). Although a relatively small country,Jordan's British trained and armed Arab Legion proved to be the most effective Arab fighting fore in the First Arab-Israeli War (1948-49). It was particularly important because of its British trained Arab Legion. The Arab Legion succeeded in seizing East Jerusalem and the East Bank. The East Bank was under the U.N. partition plan to be part of Arab Palestine. Jordan and the other Arab states, however, were more interested in seizing territory and prevented the creation of a Palestinian state. Abdullah I continued to rule until a Palestinian Arab assassinated him in 1951 as he was departing from the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The Palestinians objected to his relatively moderate approach to Israel. President Nasser convinced King Hussein to enter the Six Days War and in response Israel seized East Jerusalem and the East Bank (1967).
Lebanon is a more diverse country than most of the Middle Eastern countries which are predominantly Arab, in some
cases with small Christian populations. At the time the Israeli-Arab conflict began, Lebanon was the most
prosperous Arab countries. Lebanon was dragged into the conflict which gradually exacerbated the ethnic and
religious conflict among the various Lebanese groups.
The Soviets voted for the U.N. sponsored partition of Palestine (1947). In the close vote, Soviet support was
important as it brought several Eastern European votes as well. It is unclear just what the Soviet motives were.
Stalin knew little about the Middle East. Some of the European Jews emigrating to Israel after World War II had
left-wing political orientations, including Communism. This disturbed and seems to have influence U.S. Secretary if
State Marshall. There were few Communists in the Arab countries, some of which had strong NAZI sympathies during the
War. This may have influenced Stalin. Thus he did not prevent Czech ars sales to Israel. Stalin soon changed his
opinion as the Cold War began to unfold. He came to see the benefits for the Soviets of supporting the Arabs against
the colonial powers (Britain and France). Thus the Soviet Union even before the end of the First Arab-Israeli War
(1948-49) changed its policy and played a major role in the Arab arms buildup.
Syria was one of the Front line Arab states which invaded Palestine in an effort to destroy Israel (1948). The
Syrians also made some progress in the north, advancing into areas allocated to the Palestinians in the partition.
Syrian control of the Golan Heights which for years was used to shell Israeli farmers and families below it.
Israel seized the Golan in the Six Days War (1967). Hafez Assad eventually came to power following a dizzying series
of military coups that had made Syria the most unstable regime in the Middle East. Assad established stability. He
also oversaw a country in which living standards declined to levels below that of many other Arab states. The Assads
oversee a fragile state. They are members of the Allawite religious minority who Islamicists do not even consider to
be Muslims. The country that they rule is a collection of potentially disparate minorities. The potential for
domestic chaos is potentially similar to Iraq. The Muslim Brotherhood is a major threat to the regime. The Assad
family appears to have created a dynasty. It commands the Ba'th Party, but there are many rivalries within the Ba'th
that threaten the Assad family rule. Syria has intervened in neighboring Lebanon.
The Ottoman Empire historically was the principal colonial power in the Middle East. The Arabs were under
Ottoman control for centuries. The extent of Ottoman control varied with Ottoman power and how close the specific
Arab states ere. For some Arab countries Ottoman control was extensive. For others such as the North African or
Indian Ocean states it was minimal. For the Arabs, Ottoman control was less offensive than European colonization
because the Ottomans were fellow Muslims. And the Ottomans unlike the Europeans did not attempt to introduce a
secular government and law code. The Ottoman Sultan, even if he no loner wielded political power, still was
influential as a religious authority. It was the Ottomans who allowed the first Zionist settlers in their province of Palestine. The Ottoman Empire was destroyed in World War I and Britain received a League of Nations mandate to rule Palestine. The Ottomans had a long history of working with Jews. The Ottomans had to a degree sheltered the Jews expelled by the Spanish and Portuguese and other Christian monarchies. By the 19th century, the Ottomans saw the Jews as a useful offset to the large increasingly hostile Arab subjects.
The United States Government was not significantly involved in Palestine or the wider Middle East until World War
II. American oil companies were involved in exploration in Saudi Arabia (1933). The American Jewish community was
not significantly involved in Zionist emigration, but contributed to Zionist charities. America's first major
involvement in the Middle East was to intervene with Britain and the Soviet Union in Iran. The British had ousted a
pro-NAZI regime. Iran was important because it was the major conduit for Lend Lease shipments to the Soviet Union.
America launched its for offensive against the NAZIs with the Torch Landings of North Africa (1942). This prevented
the Holocaust from reaching North Africa as Vichy had begun actions against Jews in North Africa. President
Roosevelt met with King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy on his way back from the
Yalta Conference (February 1945). The subject of Palestine was discussed. President Truman played a key role in the
creation of Israel. He decided to cast the U.S. at the United Nations for partition. The vote was close and if the
United States had not voted for partition, the resolution almost certainly would have failed. The United States
until after the Six Days War (1967) played only a minor role in the conflict. American Jewish groups contributed
considerable sums to support Israel. American foreign aid came to be a major support for Israel. And American arms
sales, especially aircraft, financed by the aid became a central support for the IDA. With this support has come
strings. A series of American presidents have supported strongly Israel, but not without important differences.
President George W. Bush was the strongest supporter of Israel. President Obama's policy toward Israel is not yet
clear.
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