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Balfour Declaration
Sir Arthur Balfour wrote to Zionists with the proposal of giving land with rights to non-Jews. The movement failed, and hostilities increased. -
Mandate System
Great Britain took control of Palestine when the Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of World War I. Palestinians opposed the Jewish nation. -
General Assembly
General Assembly proposed to give Jews 55% of the land due to sympathy from the Holocaust. Islamic countries voted against this idea. They said the UN "had no right" without considering the majority of the population which at the time was non-Jewish Palestinians. -
Independent Israel
Ben Gunion, leader of Israeli Jews, announced the creation of an independent Israel. -
Suez Crisis
Egypty seized control of the Suez Canal which was controlled by British interests at the time. Britain made a deal with France and Israel to take is back. Israel defeated the Egyptians easily, but because of pressure from the world community including the US and Soviet Union, they backed down. -
Six Day War
Nasser (Egyptian president) and his Arabian allies equipped themselves with Soviet tanks and aircraft and prepared to confront Israel. Israels outlet, the Red Sea, was blocked by Arabians. Israel managed to defeat the Arabian states in six days. They lost 800 troops, gained control of Jerusalem, Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, and the West Bank which they used as buffers. Arabians lost over 15000. Palestinians who lived in Jerusalem were given the choice of Israeli or Jordanian citizenship. -
Yom-Kippur Attack
Anwar Saddat planned an attack on Israel on Yom-Kippur. The Israelis were thrown off by surprise attack. Arabian forces inflicted heavy casualities and recaptred some of the lost territory. -
Sadat extended peace
Anwar Sadat extends peace and recognizes Israel as a state. This is seen as a big step to all the Arabian states. Sadat approaches the Knesset (Israeli parliament); he offers peace in exchange recognition of Palestinians in Israel and withdrawal from territory taken in the Six Day War. -
Invitation to Camp David
Jimmy Carter invited Sadat and Begin (Israeli prime minister) to the Camp David presidential retreat in an attempt to solve conflict. Thirteen days later, Egypt recognized Israel as an independent state and Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula. -
Assassination of Sadat
Muslim extremists who were unhappy with the peace arrangment reached by the Camp David Accords assassinated Anwar Sadat. He was replaced by Hosni Mubarak who desrired the same peace Sadat had. Tensions between Palestinians and Israelis resurface -
Lebanon Invasion
The Israeli army invaded Lebanon in an attempt to destroy Palestinian efforts to cause violence. The Israeli army was pulled in the Lebanese civil war and was forced to pull out of Lebanon. -
First Infitada
Palestinians created an infitada, a civil disobedient "uprising". The infitada continued into the 1990s with no progress. Pressure on Israel to seek negotiations increased. -
Another attempt at peace
Israeli and Palestinian delegates meet to discuss peace proposals again. -
Oslo Peace Accords
Secret meeting talks in Oslo, Norway produced the Declaration of Principles, otherwise known as the Oslo Peace Accords. Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin agreed to grant Palestinians self-rule in Gaza Strip and West Bank. -
Assassination of Rabin
Jewish extremist assassinated Yitzhak Rabin who was then succeeded by Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu opposed to Oslo Accords, but he still tried to keep the agreements in tact. -
Netanyahu met with Arafat
Netanyahu met with Yasser Arafat (the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Egyptian president) to make plans for partial Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. -
New Israeli Prime Minister
Peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians seemed to be becoming more effective. Ehud Barak became the new Israeli prime minister after winning the election. -
Summit Meeting at Camp David
Clinton hosted a fifteen0day summit meeting at Camp David with Barak and Arafat. The Peace Plan was stalled because they couldn't reach a compromise. -
Second Intifada
Ariel Sharon (representative for Israel) visited the Jewish holy place, The Dome of the Rock which was also known to be a holy place for Muslims. The visit outraged Palestinians causing them to start riots and eventually a second intifada was launched. It began with demonstrations then escalated to suicide bombers. Seventeen months later, one Israeli died for every three Palestinians. In response, Israeli forces moved into Palestinian refugee camps and bombed Arafat's headquarters, trapping him. -
Ariel Sharon as Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon was elected as the new prime minister of Israel and refused to negotiate with the Palestinians until the attacks on Israelis ceased. Israeli officials also declared they would no longer meet with Arafat as the leader of the PLO. Mahmoud Abbas then became the main negotiator and prime minister for the Palestinians. -
The Roadmap
George Bush brought together Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas to establish a new peace plan or "roadmap". Finally, the "two men committed to reaching an agreement". Israeli forces would have to pull out of Palestinian territory and Palestinians must stop their acts of terrorism. Today, the Roadmap remains the backbone for all negotiations. However, the Palestinians request for their own state still remains unmet.
