The Birth Of Israel

Background World War II ends in 1945 Old empires are crumbling (French, British)

1947 Britain pulls out of the British Mandate The UN General Assembly approved the 1947 UN Partition Plan dividing the territory into two states, with the Jewish area consisting of roughly 55% of the land, and the Arab area consisting of roughly 45%.1947 UN Partition Plan Israeli leader David Ben-Gurion cautiously accepted the plan while the Arab League rejected it sparking the beginnings of the Arab – Israeli War

1948 The State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948May Following Israel’s establishment, the armies of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon declared war on Israel EgyptIraqJordanSyriaLebanon The creation of the Israeli state forced many Palestinians to flee and created a massive influx of Jewish settlers into Israel The war ends the same year it is started and the armistice agreements between Israel and its Arab neighbors results in the division of the former British mandate into Israel, the Gaza strip held by Egypt and the West Bank held by Jordan.Gaza stripWest Bank

Trouble Brews Once Again In May of1967 Syria, Jordan, and Egypt had been hinting at war Egypt expelled UN Peacekeeping Forces from the Gaza Strip, violating prior peace treaties and began an arms build up along the Israeli-Egyptian borderGaza Strip Israel deemed it necessary to preemptively attack Egypt on June The ensuing war would become known as the Six-Days War between Israel and its Arab neighborsSix-Days War Israel defeated the armies of three large Arab states Territorially, Israel conquered the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, and Golan Heights. This is the source of much of the conflict in the region.West BankSinai PeninsulaGolan Heights The Sinai was later returned to Egypt following the signing of a peace treaty in the 1970’s.

Territory gained in the Six Days War Present Day Israel/Palestine

War of Attrition Period from 1968 to 1972 known as the War of Attrition Culminates in at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, when Palestinian militants held hostage and killed members of the Israeli Olympic Team. Israel responded with Operation Wrath of God, in which agents of Mossad assassinated most of those who were involved in the massacre. Eternalized in Steven Spielberg's film Munich Munich Trailer

Peace on the Horizon? Egypt becomes the first Arab nation to recognize Israel as a sovereign state In March 1979, Israeli Prime Minister Begin and Egyptian leader Sadat sign the Israel- Egypt Peace Treaty in Washington, DC.Israel- Egypt Peace Treaty The Gulf War of 1991 prompted the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993

List of Terror Attacks errisrael-1.htmlhttp:// errisrael-1.html errisrael-2.htmlhttp:// errisrael-2.html

Not Yet... The Israel-Palestine conflict continues to be a source of major controversy Many Arabic countries see Israel as a colony of the West on sacred Arabian soil Terrorist attacks are still a problem all over the region