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Balfour Declaration
In 1917, on the date November 2nd, A former Secretary known as Arthur James Balfour wrote a letter. This letter was to one of Britain's Jewish citizens named "Baron Lionel Walter Rothschild". The letter explained the British government's encouragement for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This was important because it started many wars between Israel and Palestine. -
Creation of Israel
On May 14th, 1948, the British finally left Palestine. At 4 o’clock in the afternoon, David Ben-Gurion, the leader of the Jewish National Council announced the formation of the state of Israel. The Egyptians, Syrians, and Jordanians immediately attacked Israel. Israel, with a small army, proved to be stronger than the Arab powers, who were forced to agree to a peace in 1949. -
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War of Independence
In 1948, when Israel was made into its own country carved out of Palestine, the Palestinians and the other Arab countries did not agree with this and declared war. Israel had a very small army with very few planes fought against the Arabs, but they had a large and more supplied military. The Israelis were the underdogs, but they ended up winning this war and gained their independence. This war went by the name “the Israeli War of Independence”. -
Creation of the PLO
In 1950, Egypt set up a blockade of the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. In 1956 Israel started the Sinai crisis by invading the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula. In 1964, the P.L.O (Palestinian Liberation Organization) was founded to liberate Palestine from the Israelis. -
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War of Attrition
From 1967 to 1970 there was a war which was called the War of Attrition. This war was fought by Egypt and Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula. This war was fought using air and commando raids. In 1970, after the War of Attrition, the PLO attacked Israelis and jewish citizens all over the world. -
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6 Day War
The Six Day War was a war in 1967 and lasted six days. Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Syria were the countries that took action in this war. The Israelis defeated their enemies and claimed possession of the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the Sinai Peninsula. The war eventually ceased fire after a very little amount of Israelis died and over 20,000 Arabs were taken out. This war was important because the Arabs attacked and sparked a war in 1973. -
UN Resolution 242
In 1967, the UN wrote the UN Resolution 242. This called for a negotiated solution between Israel and the Arabs. The Arabs rejected negotiation, rejected recognition, and rejected peace with Israel. -
Munich Massacre
The Olympic killing in Munich, also known as the Munich Massacre, was the kidnapping and brutal killing of 11 israeli athletes. This took place at the Summer Olympics in 1972 in Munich, Germany. The Palestinian terrorist group that killed the athletes went by the name “Black September”. -
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Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur war started in 1973 when Egypt and Syria decided to try and win back territory that they had lost to Israel in a previous war. They chose to attack Israel on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, "Yom Kippur". They took the Israeli Forces by surprise. Egyptian troops went deep into the Sinai Peninsula, however Syrian troops struggled to get past Israeli troops in the Golan Heights. Israel defeated the Syrians and reclaimed the Golan Heights. -
Camp David Accords
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The 1982 Lebanon War
In 1982 the Lebanon War broke out. After years of being attacked, Israel invaded Lebanon and ejected the PLO from Lebanon. Israel invaded with their army, and completely took over the country ejecting the PLO. Yasser Arafat then took up residence in Palestinian territory in the West bank. -
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The 1st Intifada
In 1987 to 1993, Yasser Arafat, who was in charge of the Palestinians, acting as the president, charged Hamas with the goal of disrupting Israel. This was called the first Intifada. They kept attacking Israel with suicide bombings, kidnapping, and other acts of terrorism. Israel responded by having short wars in the Palestinian territories, and cease fires were eventually agreed upon. -
The Oslo Process
In 1993, a breakthrough in peace between the PLO and Israel came about. A peace process was launched, called the Oslo Process. The Palestinians took power, and the Israelis allowed the Palestinians to take over some areas of the West Bank and some of Gaza. -
Israel and Jordan Make Peace
In 1994, on the date October 26th, Jordan and Israel made a peace treaty. This treaty stated that neither of them could fight each other nor create an alliance. This created less conflicts between the Israelis and the Palestinians. -
The Oslo II Agreement
Following the Oslo Process, Jordan made peace with Israel in 1994. In 1995 the Oslo II agreement, Israel gave more territory to the Palestinian Authority. There was so much hatred of prime minister Rabin of Israel, he was assassinated in 1995. -
The Death of the Camp David and the Oslo Process
In 2000, Israel pulled all troops out of Lebanon, ending 22 years of Israeli military presence. After a number of negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis, the Camp David and Oslo Process broke down. Israel made many offers to the Palestinians but they rejected. They made no counter offers, and eventually left the negotiations. -
The 2nd Intifada
In 2000, the second Intifada was started. The Palestinians launched a number of suicide bombs and other attacks on Israelis. Israel re-invaded most major Palestinian cities on the West Bank. They did this in order to destroy the terrorists. In 2002, Israel constructed a barrier on the West Bank. This barrier prevented suicide bombers from reaching Israeli citizens. -
The Second Lebanon War
In 2005, Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip, taking with them 8000 settlers. The Palestinians held elections, and Hamas assumed power in the Gaza Strip. They shared power with Fatah, who was in the West Bank. Hezbollah attacked Israeli citizens, which led to a one month military operation by Israeli forces. This was called the Second Lebanon War of 2006. -
Hamas Takes Over the Gaza Strip
In 2007, Hamas took over the Gaza Strip. Internal fighting amongst Palestinians caused Hamas to take over power from Fatah in the Gaza Strip. Hamas continued increased rocket attacks from Gaza on to Israel. -
The Arab Right of Return
In present day there are more than 7 million Palestinian refugees. As part of any peace proposal Arabs want the “right of return” to the house their families abandoned in 1948. Israel won’t accept the “right of return” because if they allowed 7 million Arabs into Israel, Israel’s population of 8 million people would be in a minority since there is already 1.5 million Arabs living in Israel.