Key Conflicts in the Arab-Israeli War History

1. The First Arab-Israeli War

The day after the announcement, six Islamic states—Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia—declared war on Israel and invaded. The war ended in a few months with an Israeli victory. Three other wars followed in 1956, 1967, and 1973.

The Palestinian state designed in the UN partition never came into being. Israel seized half the land in the 1948–49 fighting, and a great number of Palestinians fled from the areas under Israeli control, finding shelter in UN refugee camps around the border. Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip, and Jordan annexed the West Bank of the Jordan River.

2. The 1956 Suez Crisis

Egypt seized control of the Suez Canal. President Nasser sent troops to take the canal, which was previously controlled by British interests. Nasser was resentful because he had lost economic support for the building of the Aswan Dam.

The UK, along with France and Israel, decided to retake the canal. In a quick movement, Israeli troops, with the aid of air support from their European allies, defeated the Egyptians. However, Israel had to yield under international pressure from both the US and the USSR, and they withdrew from Egypt. The canal returned to Egyptian hands. It is important to remember the international context of the Cold War and the Hungarian revolt of 1956.

3. The Six-Day War, 1967

In early 1967, Nasser and his Arab allies, with the aid of Soviet tanks and planes, decided to fight Israel again. He wanted to close the Gulf of Aqaba, Israel’s outlet to the Red Sea. Israel struck first at airfields in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria. Then, Israeli land forces attacked on three fronts. In six days, the Arab states were defeated, with significantly greater losses on the Arab side.

4. The Yom Kippur War, 1973

The subsequent Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, planned a joint attack on Israel on the day of an Israeli holy commemoration, Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). The Israelis were caught by surprise, suffered heavy casualties, and lost part of the land they had taken in 1967. Their prime minister, Golda Meir, launched a counterattack and regained most of the lost territory. A truce was signed after several weeks of fighting.