The Arab-Israeli crisis

1
The Arab-Israeli crisis
Flag of the Arab league
Flag of Israel.

• 1967- 1973
• War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War

2
The Khartoum Resolution1967

• The Arab leaders of the Arab league met in this
  city to discuss what to do next with Israel.
• They had been badly beaten in the Six Day War.
• The Palestinian issue was still unresolved.
• They decided to have
• No recognition of the State of Israel.
• No peace with Israel.
• No negotiations with Israel.

3
The War of Attrition. 1969.

• Gamal Nasser of Egypt still sought to create a
  united Arab (pan-Arab) front with himself as
  leader.
• He now proposed a new idea, the wearing down
  (attrition) of Israel with constant pressure on
  her Southern borders. Hopefully Israel was tired
  of war, and would give in.
• His goal was more modest also- the surrender of
  the Sinai desert for Egypt (and his own
  reputation).
• The Egyptians spread their military positions
  several miles deep inside Egypt. It was defence
  in depth. It was to try to stop the Israelis
  attacking them whilst they were attacking the
  Israelis.
• In the North Jordan and Syria continued with
  supporting terrorist raids into Israel, but the
  main action took place over the Suez canal where
  the border of Israel and Egypt met.

4
Irritating raids by Palestinians from Jordan and
Syria.
Egyptian military build up and defence in depth.
Israeli defences the Bar Lev line
5
A bus bombing in Israel. This was typical of Arab
terror raids on Israeli territory.
6

• The Egyptian army enthusiastically shelled
  Israeli positions across the Suez Canal.
• The USSR sent military assistance and about
  10,000 advisors to help Egypt recover its
  military abilities.
• The USSR also saw an opportunity to test out new
  weapons and radar systems, as well as train
  personnel in combat situations. The Soviet arms
  industry had also taken a knock in the Six Day
  War and saw a chance at research and development.
• The Egyptians built up large amounts of
  anti-aircraft weaponry to try to neutralise the
  effect of the superior Israeli air force. They
  bought in particular the new, and deadly, SAM
  (Surface to Air) missile systems from the USSR.

7
Israeli war effort.

• The Israelis found a solution to the Egyptian
  defence in depth they launched daring
  helicopter raids deep into Egyptian territory.
• These spread alarm and confusion. One raid cut
  off all electricity to the whole country at one
  point. Another captured, intact, the latest
  design Soviet missile defence radar and took it
  back to Israel!
• Israel, also, was being largely supported by the
  USA to counter the USSRs support of Egypt.
  (France, a large supplier to Israel, had put an
  arms embargo on the Middle East).
• US weaponry was superior to USSR weaponry and new
  jets- such as the A4 Skyhawk, and the F4
  Phantom were excellent machines. The Phantom
  was to dominate the skies for the Israeli air
  force.

8
Asymmetric response.

• Asymmetric response was the name given to the
  overwhelming Israeli retaliation for even the
  slightest sign of Egyptian aggression. Huge
  reprisals, bombing, shelling, etc were acceptable
  for the tiniest reason. Israel argued that
  because her military was outnumbered, they had to
  make up for this disadvantage with greater
  aggression.
• As a result Egypt lost more men and materiel than
  Israel in the war.
• Because the land was largely desert however few
  civilians were involved.
• However, Egypt was a bigger country, and could
  arguably afford to lose more men and machines
  than Israel could.

9
August 1970. The Rogers Plan.

• The UN resolution 242 was clearly not operative
  in such a situation, and the USA sent Secretary
  of State Rogers to broker a new deal.
• The Rogers Plan Aug 1970 Israel, Egypt and
  Jordan would have a ceasefire if missile
  deployment was restricted and certain lands
  exchanged. They all signed. The Plan (like 242)
  did not credit the Palestinians with any right to
  their land- now taken as Israel. Consequently
  Palestinians began criticism of Nasser and
  Hussein.
• The Rogers Plan was immediately broken, however,
  by the Egyptians who sited new missiles close to
  the Canal Zone.
• King Hussein of Jordan, by signing the plan,
  caused the PLO in Jordan to come out fiercely
  against him. He had broken the Khartoum
  Resolution. Arab was now set against Arab in
  Jordan.

10
Death of Gamal Nasser.September 1970.

• For many Arabs Nasser was a fighter for Arab
  dignity and freedom.
• His pan-Arab and anti-colonial ideas gave many
  Arab people a sense of identity.
• Many of his reforms enhanced Egypt eg the Aswan
  dam.
• His involvement in war caused many problems too,
  however, besides damage and casualties. Not least
  was the heavy involvement of the USSR in Egypt-
  which many independent minded Arabs just saw as a
  new form of imperialism.

11
September 1970 impact of the death of Nasser.

• The Egyptian aggression faltered at this point.
• Nassers successor, Anwar Sadat, considered the
  war of attrition to be a waste of time. Israel
  was showing no sign of running out of resources.
• Sadat considered diplomacy to be a cheaper option
  in the short term. In the longer term, however,
  he was considering whether inflicting a sharp,
  limited defeat on Israel would be more effective
  in forcing concessions from her.

12
Casualties

• Israel 1,500 soldiers killed.
• Egypt 10,000 soldiers killed.
• Israel 15 aircraft lost
• Egypt 101 aircraft lost.

Territory Not a yard was lost, or gained. The
border remained at the Suez Canal.
13
Intifada.

• Intifada ??????? Arabic word stands for shaking
  off or shivering because of fear or illness. It
  also means abrupt and sudden waking up from sleep
  or unconcerned status. Politically The word came
  to symbolise the Palestinian uprising against the
  Israeli occupation. The word also stands for the
  weakness of the Palestinian people and their
  suffering under the Israeli occupation. 

14
The Palestinian Liberation OrganisationPLO
Crest of the PLO. Notice the map of Palestine all
one colour.
In Jordan, and particularly the West bank,
Palestinian Arabs had been preparing for war.
They were organised into many different groups
but they were all largely prepared to operate
under the umbrella name PLO. When King
Hussein of Jordan signed the Rogers plan, the
Palestinians felt betrayed. When Husseins army
began receiving arms and equipment from the USA
they felt even more threatened. Different PLO
groups began new campaigns of violence. They
worked out of fortified refugee camps and cities.
They raided Israeli targets , but also Jordanian
police and army targets.
15
Arab fighting Arab in Jordan.

• King Hussein, for his part, felt threatened by
  the Palestinians. As refugees in his country they
  insisted in behaving independently- and had grown
  in such numbers as to take over several cities.
  They now comprised 50 of his population. They
  were confident enough to fight off Jordanian army
  units who sought to impose Jordanian laws. He saw
  US help as a solution to this problem.
• The Jordanian army shelled several suspected
  bases- where Palestinian activists were thought
  to be hiding- and he ordered that all weapons be
  handed in.

16
PLO?The Palestinian Liberation Organisation was
an umbrella name for all many Palestinian
political groups. It helped small groups have a
greater say, and effect, on events and helped to
keep secret the organisation of the more militant
groups.

• Fatah - Largest faction, social
  democratic/nationalist.
• The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
  (PFLP) - Second largest, radically militant and
  Communist
• The Democratic Front for the Liberation of
  Palestine (DFLP) - Third largest, Communist
• The Palestinian People's Party (PPP) -
  Ex-Communist, non-militant.
• The Palestine Liberation Front (PLF, Abu Abbas
  faction) - Minor left-wing faction.
• The Arab Liberation Front (ALF) - Minor faction,
  aligned to the Iraqi Ba'ath Party.
• As-Sa'iqa - Syrian-controlled Ba'athist faction.
• The Palestine Democratic Union (Fida) - Minor
  left-wing faction, non-militant
• The Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF,
  Samir Ghawsha faction) - minor left-wing faction.
  
• The Palestinian Arab Front (PAF) - minor faction.
  

17
Hijackiing. August 30.1970

• The Palestinians (PFLP) in return demanded a say
  in the government of Jordan and hijacked
  passenger jets, belonging to Swissair, BOAC and
  TWA to give weight to their demands.
• The King refused to be threatened so the
  Palestinians blew up the jets- (but released the
  people first though)
• Several assassination attempts were also made
  against the King. They all failed.

18
Planes burn, and the world is shocked.
19
Black September 1968

• In Syria some army units called The Palestinian
  Liberation Army(PLA) had been equipping.
• The US, meanwhile, promised aid to King Hussein
  of Jordan, and even Israel flew threatening
  missions over Syria to stop her supporting the
  PLO with the PLA.
• The death of Gamal Nasser (September 1968) took
  real authority away from the Palestinians.
  Without his support they had to stop the
  conflict.
• Yasser Arafat , leader of the PLO, immediately
  began looking for new sponsors for the
  Palestinian cause. The Palestinians called this
  time Black September because their cause, for a
  while, looked lost.

20
Victory for the King.

• October 1968. Yasser Arafat signed a document
  returning power to King Hussein, ordering
  Palestinian bases dismantled, and banning
  concealed weaponry.
• Large groups within the PLO (notably the PFLP)
  refused to honour the document however.
• Fighting continued. Civilians were killed on both
  sides. The Jordanian army, with US support, made
  good progress, ultimately silencing all the
  rebels.

21
Fighting in Jordan.
Many civilian deaths but it is unclear how
many. The Jordanians would want the number to be
low- so as not to seem too harsh. The PLO would
want the number to be as a high as possible so as
to win sympathy from outsiders.
22
Lebanon.

• The Palestinians were now without power in
  Jordan.
• But Yasser Arafat had, by now, made a deal with
  a Lebanese General that PLO fatah fighters
  could live in the Lebanon (Nov 1969).
• In fury some of these Fatah members set up a
  radical Black September group who would vent
  their anger on Israel at Munich in 1972.
• The Palestinians moved to Lebanon to continue the
  struggle- the Intifada.

23
The Munich Massacre 1972

• The Black September Movement targeted the Israeli
  sportsmen who attended the Olympic Games in
  Munich, Germany, 1972.
• They managed to kill 12 of the Israeli Olympic
  team and successfully put Western attention back
  onto the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Importance

• The image of the International Terrorist became
  widely recognised for the first time.
• Three terrorists survived and were later released
  when other terrorists hijacked a German plane and
  threatened to kill the passengers.
• King Hussein was the only Arab leader to condemn
  the massacre.

A Black September terrorist negotiating with
police.
24
Yom Kippur War 1973

• The Yom Kippur War, or October War also known as
  the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth
  Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to
  October 26, 1973, between Israel and a coalition
  of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria.

25
Egypt

• Anwar Sadat began building up to war in 1972. He
  still had ideas of a sharp blow against Israel,
  and was still harbouring ideas of an Egyptian led
  Arab world.
• New planes(Mig 21s), tanks (T55, T62 ) and
  anti-aircraft missiles(SA2 to 7 and RPG 7)were
  delivered, plus old defeated generals were
  replaced.
• Soviet objections to his plans resulted in Sadat
  throwing out all the 20,000 Soviet advisors
  left over from the war of attrition. Egypt would
  never return to the Soviet side again. The
  Russians would now look for other friends in the
  Arab world.

26
Syria

• Syria was building up militarily too. With Soviet
  assistance she was rapidly becoming the strongest
  Arab nation in the Middle East.
• She had split with Egypt (the UAR) in 1963, and
  had successfully resisted both Palestinian
  influence and Turkish pressure.
• With her leader, President Assad, she was
  becoming a serious challenger to Egypts
  authority over the Arab world.
• Syrias political Baath party established full
  control over the nation and now established links
  with the Baath party in Iraq. The centre of the
  Arabic political world was moving East.

President Assad of Syria.
27
Israel
Israeli trenches on the Bar Lev line.

• Israel had heavily fortified its borders,
  especially the Suez area and the Golan heights.
  In the Suez area the defences were called the
  Bar Lev line after an Israeli general.
• She knew however, that her greatest assets were
  her air force and the motivation of her soldiers.
  These she carefully nurtured.

28
The War begins
Egyptian soldiers cross the canal by boat
A tremendous feat of military engineering. The
Egyptians bridged the canal and cut through the
sand wall fortification, (with water cannons), in
5 hours. The Israelis were taken by surprise.
29
But Israel did not panic.
As Egyptian troops (in red) poured into the Sinai
desert, the Israeli armies grouped together and
waited for the reserve army to appear. The
Israelis then counter attacked (in blue) by
attempting to punch a hole in the Egyptian line
and completely cutting off Egypts 3rd army.
30
The Egyptian army victorious!
The UAR flag (Egypt) raised in victory. But it
was too soon to celebrate. The battle was won,
but the war wasnt finished.
31
The Golan Heights.

• With apparent Egyptian success, Syria now invades
  Israel from the North, over the Golan Heights.

32
The Golan Heights. Syria invaded Israel. She had
Iraqi air force support in the sky. King Hussein
of Jordan reluctantly (?) supplied artillery to
protect the South flank.
Syrian advance.
33
Israeli artillery was waiting however.
The Israeli reserves moved fast, and the Israeli
air force perfected quick refuelling and resupply
techniques to keep them in the air longer.
34
Israeli artillery pound Syrian positions.
35
Israel countered attacks.

• Fighting hard the Israeli reserves managed to
  push through the centre of the Egyptian assault
  and push themselves across the Suez canal into
  Egypt.
• They advanced on Cairo- and stopped only 65 miles
  short. They were led by General Ariel Sharon.
• Equally hard was the fight back against the
  Syrians. Re-conquering the Golan Heights the
  Israelis pressed on into Syria, coming to within
  35 miles of Damascus.

36
October 24 1973. Ceasefire.

• Neither superpower wanted war therefore they
  co- operated in the United Nations.
• The United Nations organised a ceasefire.
  Resolution 338.
• No Russian soldiers ever arrived in Egypt.
• This was to the Arabs advantage because Israeli
  forces were close to both Egypts and Syrias
  capital cities, they had one entire Egyptian
  army cut off in the Sinai desert, and had, by
  now, occupied large pieces of Arab territory.
• The UN sent in peace keepers to the Suez region,
  and the Golan heights. All forces began to
  withdraw.

37
Lebanon
Golan Heights
Syria
The End of the War. -green marks Israeli gains
Israel
Jordan
Suez Canal
Egypt
38
Results

• The Arab armies did much better than in the
  Six-Day War and managed to inflict some surprises
  on the Israelis. This filled some with
  confidence.
• The Israelis learned from the experience not to
  be complacent about Arab threats, or lax in
  defence.
• Both sides, consequently, continued updating
  their weapons, and planned for the next war.
• The war had solved nothing, and had proved little.

39
What is a Victory?

• The Israelis made most gains- and held new
  territory that had belonged to the enemy. They
  felt disappointed however, and cheated by the
  ceasefire agreement.
• For them it was an almost victory, but a loss of
  good men and real victory added up to little.
• The Arabs conversely lost more men and equipment
  but regarded it as a victory. They had not done
  so well before against israel and had been saved
  from a crushing defeat by the UN.
• Their military reputation was enhanced and the
  memory of their defeat in the Six day war had
  been erased.

40
Post war consequences..
41
Dr.Kissinger and the Sadat Initiative.

• The United states sent Dr.Kissinger to organise a
  peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. An
  interim agreement was signed September 1975
• November 1977 President Sadat proposed the Sadat
  initiative. He would visit Jerusalem and speak
  to the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) to resolve
  all difficulties.
• It at last broke the mould of hatred and distrust
  between Egypt and Israel.

42
Camp David, USA.

• Under the guidance of US President Jimmy Carter,
  President Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister
  Menachim Begin of Israel met at Camp David to
  discuss the future of the Middle East.
• They both won the Nobel Peace Prize when a Camp
  David peace agreement was signed 1978. It
  promised peace at last!

43
Presidents Sadat (UAE), Carter (USA), and Begin
(Israel) sign the Camp David Accords. 1978.
44

• The Palestinians, the PLO and most Arab states
  were furious! It looked like an Arab nation had
  broken with the Khartoum Resolution and
  recognised Israel as an independent state (and
  therefore dismissed Palestinian Arab claims to
  their own lands).
• 1981 President Sadat was assassinated. Not one of
  his bodyguards returned fire on the attackers.
• There were three US presidents at Sadats
  funeral, and only one Arab leader.

45
Assassination of President Sadat of Egypt 1981
The crowds run to safety.
Egyptian jihadi extremists.
The president and foreign visitors hide under
their chairs
46
Summary.

• Egypt and Israel, by a lot of fighting, had found
  a way to work together.
• The Palestinians, PLO, were not prepared to
  tolerate this and would step up their campaign of
  attacks from their bases in Lebanon.
• Other Arab states looked to take over Egypts
  role as leader of the Arab league Syria notably,
  but also Iraq. Attacking Israel was seen as a
  good way to get Arab unity.