Israel and Lebanon

1
Israel and Lebanon

• March 1978 the PLO launched an attack against
  Israel from Lebanon and Israel responded with and
  invasion
• 3 years after the invasion Israel set up a 9 mile
  safety zone between the two nations.
• In June 1982 Israel attacks again in response to
  continuing attacks by PLO forces and occupy all
  the way up to Beirut. They scaled back shortly
  after but kept from troops in Southern Lebanon.

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1st Intifada

• In 1987 Palestinians living under Israeli rule
  rebelled in places like Gaza, West Bank, and East
  Jerusalem
• Violent and Non-Violent resistance was common.
• 1,100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces
• 164 Israelis were killed by Palestinians.
• In addition, an estimated 1,000 Palestinians were
  killed by other Palestinians because they were
  seen as collaborators with Israel

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1991 Gulf War

• Israel did not participate in the war, but
  Palestine sided with Iraq as Hussein launched
  attacks into Israel.
• Two Israeli civilians died from these attacks,
  and approximately 230 were injured.
• US convinced Israel not to retaliate against
  these attacks

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Oslo Accords

• 1993 agreement between Israel and PLO
• Yasser Arafat PLO
• Yitzhak Rabin Israel PM
• The Palestinian Authority would administer the
  territory under its control.
• Israel would withdraw from parts of the Gaza
  Strip and West Bank
• A five-year interim period was established in
  which negotiations for a permanent agreement
  would begin
• Interim Palestinian self-government was to be
  granted by Israel in phases
• Israeli government recognized the PLO as the
  legitimate representative of the Palestinian
  people
• PLO recognized the right of the state of Israel
  to exist
• PLO renounced terrorism as well as other
  violence, and its desire for the destruction of
  the Israeli state

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Peace with Jordan

• IsraelJordan peace treaty normalized relations
  between the two countries and resolved
  territorial disputes in 1994

10
Failure of Oslo

• Accords popularity were damaged by
• Continuation of Israeli settlements
• Continuation of Israeli checkpoints
• Deterioration of economic conditions in the
  Palestinian areas
• Israeli public support for the Accords waned as
  Israel was struck by multiple suicide attacks
• 1995, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a
  far-right-wing Jew who opposed the Accords

11
New Millennium

• Ehud Barak Prime Minister of Israel authorized
  the withdrawal of troops from Southern Lebanon in
  2000
• Camp David Summit was held with Arafat and Barak
• Palestine wanted full Palestinian sovereignty
  over the entire West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
  Cited SC Resolution 242 after 1967 War
  http//unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7D35E1F729DF49
  1C85256EE700686136
• Israel was concerned that a complete return to
  the 1967 borders was dangerous to Israel's
  security.
• Heavy disputes over Holy Sites in Jerusalem
• The Summit broke down and no agreement was formed

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Second Intifada

• Allegedly, Palestinian rioting erupted following
  Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple
  Mount
• A Muslim mosque is constructed at the Temple
  Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem a location
  considered the holiest site in Judaism and third
  holiest in Islam
• Palestinian tactics ranged from mass protests to
  armed attacks on Israeli soldiers, security
  forces, police, settlers, and civilians, suicide
  bombing attacks, and launching rockets into
  Israel
• Israel see it as terrorism. Palestine sees it as
  struggle for liberation
• Thousands died in the intifada which culminated
  in 2004 with the death of Arafat.

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After Arafat

• Israel removed all Israeli troops from Gaza in
  2005
• Hamas would win elections in 2006 for the PNA
• After many clashes with Fatah (more moderate)
  Hamas was removed from the PNA but retained
  control over Gaza

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2nd Lebanon War

• 34 day military conflict in Lebanon and northern
  Israel between Israeli forces and Hezbullah
• Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli border towns
  as a diversion for missile attacks on two
  armored trucks patrolling the Israeli side of the
  border.
• At least 3 soldiers were killed and some were
  believed to have been captured by Hezbullah
• Israel responded with airstrikes and on targets
  in Lebanon that damaged Lebanese civilian
  infrastructure
• Israel imposed an air and naval blockade
• Israel also launched a ground invasion of
  southern Lebanon.
• Hezbollah responded by launching more rockets
  into northern Israel

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2nd Lebanon War Continued

• The conflict killed at least 1,300 people, mostly
  Lebanese citizens
• Severely damaged Lebanese civil infrastructure
• Displaced approximately one million Lebanese
• 300,000500,000 Israelis were also displaced.
• In August 2006, the UNSC unanimously approved UN
  Resolution 1701 to end the hostilities.
• It was approved by both Lebanese and Israeli
  governments
• It called for disarmament of Hezbollah and for
  withdrawal of Israel from Lebanon

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Gaza War

• A three-week armed conflict that took place in
  the Gaza Strip and Southern Israel during
  20082009.
• Israel launched a military offensive with a
  surprise opening air strike against the Gaza
  Strip
• Israel's stated aim was to stop rocket fire which
  was being launched from Hamas controlled
  locations in Gaza
• The conflict resulted in 1,100 and1,400
  Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths. Many civilians
• In September 2009, a UN special mission produced
  a controversial report accusing both Palestinian
  militants and Israelis of war crimes and possible
  crimes against humanity and recommended bringing
  those responsible to justice.

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Obama

• On May 19, 2011, President Obama declared that
  the borders demarcated before the 1967
  Arab-Israeli war should be the basis of a Mideast
  peace deal between Israel and Palestine.
• He also said that the borders should be adjusted
  to account for Israeli settlements in the West
  Bank.
• The Israeli government protested immediately,
  saying that a return to the pre-1967 borders
  would leave Israel "indefensible,

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Palestine in UN

• Israel vehemently opposed the effort begun in
  September 2011 by Mahmoud Abbas for full
  recognition by the United Nations SC.
• After failing to get full status recognition the
  Palestinians pursued non-member state status
• On Thursday, 29 November 2012, In a 138-9 vote
  (with 41 abstaining) General Assembly resolution
  67/19 adopted, upgrading Palestine to "non-member
  observer state" status in the United Nations.
• The vote was a historic benchmark for the
  sovereign State of Palestine and its citizens,
  whilst it was a diplomatic setback for Israel and
  the United States. Status as an observer state in
  the UN will allow the State of Palestine to join
  treaties and specialized UN agencies
• It shall permit Palestine to claim legal rights
  over its territorial waters and air space as a
  sovereign state recognized by the UN.
• It shall also provide the citizens of Palestine
  with the right to sue for control of the
  territory that is rightfully theirs in the
  International Court of Justice and with the legal
  right to bring war-crimes charges, mainly those
  relating to Israel's illegal occupation of the
  State of Palestine, against Israel in the
  International Criminal Court.
• As of 27 September 2013, 134 (69.4) of the 193
  member states of the United Nations have
  recognized the State of Palestine as sovereign
  over both West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
• In November, to protest the Palestinians membersh
  ip efforts at the United Nations and pursuit of
  power-sharing with Hamas, Israel carried out a
  threat to suspend the transfer of about 100
  million in tax payments to the Palestinian
  Authority.
• On Nov. 30, under strong American and
  international pressure, Israel agreed to transfer
  the money.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vjkEz6WbYpB8

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Syria

• The downfall of President Bashar al-Assad would
  deal a major blow to Iran and so would be
  welcome.
• But without a central authority, Syria could
  descend into being a land of chaos and terrorist
  bases on Israels northeast border.
• Israeli officials and intelligence analysts say
  they also worry about an increased presence by Al
  Qaeda and ISIS in Syria and the possibility that
  Syrias large storehouse of arms could end up in
  the hands of Hezbollah and other anti-Israel
  groups.

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Unilateral Action?

• In May 2012, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak
  said that Israel should consider imposing the
  borders of a future Palestinian state, bypassing
  a stagnant peace process.
• Mr. Barak called for an interim agreement, maybe
  even unilateral action. Referring to fears that
  Jews will become a minority in their own state,
  he added, Inaction is not a possibility.
• Calls for direct action are based on the
  arguments that negotiations are no longer
  feasible because of enduring political divisions
  on both sides
• The Palestinian Authority has opposed any effort
  by Israel to decree the contours of its
  territory.
• The Obama administration has strongly opposed
  unilateral action by either side, and some senior
  Israeli officials have worried that such a move
  by Israel could provoke an uprising by
  Palestinians.

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West Bank land

• In late June 2012, Jewish families moved quietly
  but not willingly from their homes in Ulpana,
  which were declared illegal because they sit on
  private Palestinian land. 
• Israels Supreme Court had ruled that five of
  Ulpanas 14 multifamily buildings had to be
  removed by July 1
• Many experts and advocates said the handling of
  Ulpana and two other settlements on private
  land, simply proved Netanyahus commitment to the
  settlement enterprise and made any future
  two-state solution less likely.
• Most of the international community considers all
  Jewish settlements in the West Bank territory
  that Israel captured in the 1967 war to be
  illegal
• Israel distinguishes between those built with
  permits on state land and those constructed on
  private plots or without government
  authorization.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vj087SQ8Yhdk
  Netanyahu on settlements.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vmlgBFewCwAU
  Palestine on settlements

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Gaza Again

• On Nov. 14, 2012, Israel launched one of its
  biggest attacks on Gaza since the invasion four
  years ago and hit at least 20 targets.
• One of those targets was Hamas military
  commander, Ahmed al-Jabari. Al-Jabari was the
  most senior official killed by the Israelis since
  its invasion in 2008.
• The airstrikes were in response to recent
  repeated rocket attacks by Palestinian militants
  located in Gaza.

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Moving Forward

• By Nov. 16, 2012, according to officials in Gaza,
  19 people had been killed from the Israeli
  airstrikes. Heavy rocket fire continued from Gaza
  while the Israeli military called in 16,000 army
  reservists.
• Throughout mid-Nov. 2012, Israel continued to
  target members of Hamas and other militant groups
  in Gaza while Hamas launched several hundred
  rockets, some hitting Tel Aviv.
• Both sides agreed to end hostilities toward each
  other and Israel said it would open Gaza border
  crossings, allowing the flow of products and
  people into Gaza, potentially lifting the 5-year
  blockade that has caused much hardship to those
  living in the region.

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Reelection

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was elected to
  a third term in January 2013

38
Peace Talks

• On Aug. 14, 2013, Israelis and Palestinians began
  peace talks in Jerusalem, the third attempt to
  negotiate since 2000. The talks began just hours
  after Israel released 26 Palestinian prisoners.
• Palestinian officials expressed concern about
  Israel's ongoing settlement building in the West
  Bank and east Jerusalem, land that would be part
  of an official Palestinian state.
• Israel freed another 26 Palestinian prisoners as
  part of the current U.S.-brokered peace talks in
  October.
• Soon after the prisoners were released, the
  Israeli government reported it planned to build
  1,500 new homes in east Jerusalem, an area
  claimed by the Palestinians.
• The settlement announcement was seen as a
  concession to the right after the prisoner
  release.
• When Israel failed to release the promised last
  batch of prisoners in late March 2014, U.S.
  Secretary John Kerry headed there in an attempt
  to rescue the peace talks. Israel had promised to
  release Palestinian prisoners in four groups and
  released the first three groups.
• But Israel's failure to release the last group of
  26 prisoners as well as their continued
  settlement expansion in the West Bank threatened
  to derail a peace agreement that was supposed to
  be reached by the end of April 2014.
• Palestine said that the peace talks would end on
  April 29 if Israel did not release the 26
  prisoners.

39
Hamas and Fatah at Peace

• In April 2014, the troubled peace talks hit
  another snag when Palestinian leadership and
  Hamas forged a new reconciliation agreement.
• The new unity deal angered the Israeli
  government. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin
  Netanyahu reacted by saying that Palestinian
  President Mahmoud Abbas was choosing "Hamas, not
  peace."
• On April 24, 2014, the day after the Palestinian
  leadership announced its new unity deal with
  Hamas, Israel responded by halting the peace
  talks. The deadline for this latest round of
  peace talks passed without an agreement a week
  later.

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Tensions beginning

• Later in June, three Israeli teenagers were
  kidnapped and killed while hiking in the occupied
  West Bank. Their bodies were recovered days later
  and a burial was held in early July.
• The day after their burial, the burned body of a
  missing Palestinian teenager was found in a
  forest near Jerusalem.
• The incidents increased tension between Israelis
  and Palestinians, including riots in East
  Jerusalem and an exchange of rocket fire in
  Southern Israel and Gaza, where Israel targeted
  Hamas.
• Within a week, several Israeli Jewish suspects
  were arrested in connection with the killing of
  the Palestinian teen.

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War with Gaza

• The situation continued to escalate throughout
  July. Hundreds of rockets were launched into
  Israel by militant groups in Gaza. The rockets
  reached areas in Israel that previous rocket
  attacks could not, such as outskirts of
  Jerusalem.
• In response, Israel launched an aerial offensive
  in Gaza, killing dozens of Palestinians, and
  called up thousands of reservists for a potential
  ground operation.
• On July 17, Israel launched a ground offensive
  into Gaza.
• Israeli officials said that the mission's main
  focus was tunnels near Gaza's borders that were
  being used by Hamas to enter Israel.
• As the violence continued and the casualties
  mounted on both sides, U.S. Secretary of State
  John Kerry pressed Egyptian, Israeli, and
  Palestinian leaders to negotiate a cease-fire.
• In the midst of his urgent diplomatic outreach,
  16 Palestinians were killed and more than 100
  wounded in an attack on a UN elementary school in
  Gaza on July 24.
• Israel denied launching the attack, saying Hamas
  militants were responsible, missing their target.
  Demonstrations followed the attack, and
  Palestinians in the West Bank protested to show
  unity with Gazans. At least five protesters were
  killed by Israeli fire.
• http//www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleea
  st/israel/11000191/Gaza-conflict-Israel-announces-
  ceasefire-after-shelling-UN-school-in-pictures.htm
  l?frame2991019

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End of Another war

• After fighting for seven weeks and attempting
  several short-term cease-fires, Israel and Hamas
  agreed to an open-ended cease-fire on Aug. 26.
• The agreement was mediated by Egypt. The interim
  agreement still had Hamas in control of Gaza
  while Israel and Egypt still controlled access to
  Gaza, leaving no clear winner in this latest
  conflict.
• However, Hamas declared victory. Meanwhile,
  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was
  criticized in Israel for how costly the conflict
  has been. Since the conflict began in early July,
  2,143 Palestinians were killed, mostly civilians,
  with more than 11,000 wounded and 100,000 left
  homeless. On Israel's side, 64 soldiers and six
  civilians were killed.

43
Tensions Rise again

• Two Palestinians, armed with knives, meat
  cleavers, and a handgun, entered a synagogue in
  Jerusalem during morning prayers and killed five
  people on Nov. 18. Four of the people killed were
  rabbis the other was a police officer who died
  hours after the incident.
• The two attackers were shot and killed by police.
• Hamas praised the synagogue attack, claiming it
  was in response to the recent death of a
  Palestinian bus driver.
• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the
  attack. In a televised address, Netanyahu said
  that Abbas' condemnation wasn't enough. The
  incident increased tension in Israel, which was
  already on high alert after a recent rise in
  religious violence.

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Dissent

• On Dec. 2, Netanyahu fired Finance Minister Yair
  Lapid and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni in a
  statement. The statement also called for
  dissolving the parliament as soon as possible and
  quoted Netanyahu as saying, "I will not tolerate
  an opposition within the government any more.
• I will not tolerate ministers attacking
  government policy from within the government."
  The dismissals showed a deep divide in the
  current government. Both leaders of separate
  centrist parties, Livni and Lapid had been
  Netanyahu's most vocal critics in recent weeks.
  The current government has only been in office
  since early 2013. An early election was set for
  March 17, 2015, two years ahead of schedule.

45
Issues with Lebanon

• On Jan. 18, 2015, one Iranian general and six
  Hezbollah fighters were killed during an Israeli
  air strike on the Syrian section of Golan
  Heights.
• After the attack, Hezbollah leader Hassan
  Nasrallah threatened retaliation. Ten days later
  Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles into an
  Israeli-occupied area along the Lebanon border,
  killing two Israeli soldiers.
• Israeli forces responded with ground and air
  strikes on several villages in southern Lebanon.
  While there were no reports of Lebanese
  casualties, a Spanish peacekeeper working with
  UNIFIL was killed.
• The exchange was the worst fighting between
  Hezbollah and Israel since their 2006 month long
  war.
• Despite the attacks, both sides quickly sent
  messages that they were not interested in an
  ongoing conflict. On Jan. 29, an Israel official
  said that UNIFIL, a U.N. peacekeeping force
  located in Lebanon, had passed on a message that
  Hezbollah was not interested in escalating the
  conflict. Israel responded, via UNIFIL, "that it
  will make do with what happened yesterday and it
  does not want the battle to expand."

46
Iranian deal

• On March 3, 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
  Netanyahu addressed Congress in an effort to sway
  the Obama administration against continuing
  negotiations with Iran over nuclear weapons.
  Netanyahu called the negotiations to get Iran to
  freeze its nuclear program "a bad deal."
• In his speech, he said the deal that the Obama
  administration wanted "could well threaten the
  survival of my country" because it would not
  prevent Iran from having and using nuclear
  weapons. To the contrary, he said, the deal "will
  all but guarantee" nuclear arms in Iran.

47
Reelection

• After polls leading up to the election had him
  behind, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
  and his Likud Party won the March 17 election.
• Netanyahu's Likud Party took 30 out of 120 seats.
  Likud's main rival, Zionist Union alliance, led
  by Isaac Herzog, won 24 seats.
• The win for Likud meant that odds were highly in
  favor of Netanyahu serving a fourth term as prime
  minister. Netanyahu must form a government, a
  task which could be harder after he vowed leading
  up to the election that no Palestinian state
  would be established while he was in office, a
  vow that insulted Arab citizens and alienated
  some political allies.
• However, after a backlash, Netanyahu backtracked
  from the statements against the establishment of
  a Palestinian state that he made leading up to
  the election. In a March 19 TV interview, he said
  that he remained committed to a two-state vision
  and Palestinian statehood if conditions in the
  region improved. "I don't want a one-state
  solution, I want a sustainable, peaceful
  two-state solution, but for that circumstances
  have to change," Netanyahu said in the interview
  two days after the election.
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vz6aG1LG0Jps

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3rd Intifada?

• During the first two weeks of Oct. 2015, 32
  Palestinians and seven Israelis were killed in
  what was the biggest spike in violence the area
  has seen in recent years.
• The violence broke out in part over what the
  Palestinians saw as increased encroachment by
  Israelis on the al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple
  Mount in Jerusalem, a site important to both
  Muslims and Jews. However, the violence quickly
  spread beyond Jerusalem. On Oct. 16, at the
  request of council member Jordan, the United
  Nations Security Council held a meeting to
  discuss the area's increasing unrest.
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vMQp8XZc8bv0
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vYF2OakZNOkQ (12
  min)
• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vaWKk7a_zGU4

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Videos

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vI2fzgYrkQlg
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v573rxA6EVnw
  (Abbas)
• http//www.c-span.org/video/?321761-2/israeli-prim
  e-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-addresses-un-general
  -assembly
• (Netanyahu 2014)
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vzh2KnEldmDY
  (Netanyahu with Andrea Mitchell

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Editorials

• http//www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/opinion/how-pale
  stinian-hate-prevents-peace.html?_r0adxnnl1ref
  israeladxnnlx1382063251-92h28b/3/HwWwBsocdML0A
  Pro-Israel op-ed
• http//www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/opinion/sunday/t
  wo-state-illusion.html?refisrael 2 state
  solution op-ed
• http//www.nytimes.com/2013/08/13/opinion/global/o
  ne-state-dream-one-state-nightmare.html?refisrael
  Op-ed 1 state
• http//www.nytimes.com/2014/10/09/opinion/rosner-i
  srael-and-a-hostile-world.html?_r0 (Op-Ed Israel
  Dangerous)
• http//www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/opinion/palestin
  es-nuclear-option.html (Palestine should back up
  threats)