The Modern State of Israel

The area known to us as the Land of Israel has had a turbulent history and has been under the rulership of many different nations. In fact, thus far the land has belonged to the Nation of Israel only a small fraction of the last 6,000 years. The importance of this area comes from the social, political, and historical aspects link to the three major religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as well as the geographic importance as a land connection between Africa and Asia.

When we look at this area and the recording of it's inhabitants in scripture, we find that this area was first inhabited by the Canaanites, who are descendants of Noah through Ham. The Nation of Israel did not appear on this land until centuries later when Elohim brought them out of the land of Egypt and gave the land to them. For a few centuries, Israel was there under the leadership of the judges. Afterwards, Israel was there a few more centuries under the leadership of kings.

Israel - 1900 AD

After Israel had rebeled and forsaken the Almighty, they were taken captive and enslaved first by the Assyrians and then by the Babylonians. After this, they found favor with the Persians and were able to return the land. Yet only a couple centuries later, they were swept away by the culture of the Greeks and Romans. The remaining tribe of Judah had at best a sporadic appearance for the next couple millenia as the Byzantine, Muslim, and Christian groups fought for control of the land. Except for one century under the Christian Crusades, this area was under Muslim control either by Arab or Turkish groups from the 7th through 20th centuries. In 1517 it ended up as part of the Ottoman Muslim Empire which lasted into the 1900's.

It was during the latter part of the Ottoman empire, around 1878, that the modern Zionist Movement to resettle Jews in the land began in Eastern Europe. This was due mostly to the persecution of the Jews in Russia and the countries to the west. At this time, the entire region both west and east of the Jordan river was known as Palestine.

The beginning of this century was full of turmoil and political upheavals in the world. The region we know as Israel is still part of the Ottoman empire. World War I enters the scene and with it many changes on the map. The League of Nations was formed and started handing out Mandates in which one country was given the task of preparing a smaller or less advanced country for future self-rule. In 1917, the British forces took command of the region of Palestine under such a mandate.

The Zionist movement was strong in Britain and had some political power. In 1917, Britain made the Balfour Declaration. This stated that Britain favored creating a national homeland for the Jewish people within Palestine. This plan included the immigration of Jews into the land so they could become a majority and gain self-rule. This made the area of Palestine unique in the League of Nations mandates since all other areas were assured that the then indigenous people would ultimately be granted independance after a period of tutelage. Britain's purpose in doing this was not only to pursue Zionism, but to suit it's own imperial interest which included open trade routes to the British colony of India.

The Balfour Declaration created much fear among the Arab nations as it was thought Britain wanted to turn all of Palestine into a Jewish state. The Arab nations were not yet organized in independant states and between the two world wars the British did make some concessions to Arab concerns to keep good relations. Meanwhile Jewish immigrants started coming from Eastern Europe.

The next two decades had many map changes as many nations were tentatively carved out on the continents. Both Britain and France carved up their respective land regions and placed local rulers who would allow them to keep the real power.

In 1921 the Emirate of Trans-Jordan was created on the East side of the Jordan River. This was done to placate the Arab nations as this effectively seperated that area from the area east of the River which then became known as Palestine and prevented Jewish settlement in the area East of the River. At this time, Abdullah, son of Hussein of Mecca, was made govenor there. Abdullah was supported by T.E. Lawrence and through him by Winston Churchill who was guiding Middle East policy at that time.

In 1922, the League of Nations accepted the Balfour Declaration. This helped the Jewish immigration swell the population from about 84,000 in 1929 to 445,457 in 1939. At this time, the main Zionist leadership was through Chaim Weizmann in England and by David Ben-Gurion in the area of Palestine. This leadership was very effective. In fact, the Arab leadership was unable to confront Zionism as a whole, come to terms with it, or even agree on a unified policy against it. Throughout the interwar period, Zionists sought to buy land from Arab nations and build a modern economy. They succeeded in creating a modern industrial sector through outside sources of income.

In the 1930's German Jews started immigrating in significant numbers after Adolf Hitler came to power and started persecuting Jews. This wave of immigration led to Arab rebellion against the British from 1936 - 1939. This in turn led to Britain's issuing of a 'white paper', an official government document, stating the curtailing of Jewish immigration and land purchases for 5 years with a complete ban thereafter. This was done because Britain wanted Arab co-operation in the middle East on the eve of WWII.

Prior to WWII, Britain was making concessions to the Arab nations to stop the Jewish immigration. However, after the horrors of the holocaust, the creation of a Jewish homeland had renewed meaning and urgency and Britain permitted Jewish immigration to Palestine under pressure from the United States.

Through WWII the Zionist movement had worked with Britain, but at this time starting confronting the immigration quotas which finally led to armed conflict in 1945 and onward. Aslo in 1945, the League of Arab States was formed to strengthen and co-ordinate programs for all states involved. It became increasingly political due to the Arab-Israeli conflict. In 1947, Britain referred the Palestine problem to the United Nations whose General Assembly created a committee. In November, the UN approved the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states with Jerusalem as an international zone. The Arab nations rejected this proposal and refused the validity of a Zionist right to Palestine.

In 1948, the State of Israel officially was proclaimed. British troops were withdrawn from the land relinquishing the mandate. The day after the troops left, the Arab nations launched a war against Israel hoping to crush the new State. Within a short time, Israel had complete control of the proposed Jewish homeland and some Arab areas as well. The cease fire and armistice agreements in 1949 left Isreal in control of 3/4 of Palestine ... twice as much as proposed by the United Nations. During this fighting, an estimated 726,000 Arabs had fled or been evicted from their homeland, which ultimately lead to a movement seeking to reclaim Palestine and end the existence of the Jewish State. During the battles of 1948, Trans-Jordan took the west bank of the Jordan River and in 1949 officially became known as Jordan. In 1949 Ben-Gurion became Prime Minister and Weizmann became president of Israel. Later that year, Israel was admitted to the United Nations.

In 1955 Egypt, Syria, and Jordan encircled Israel and set up a blockade of the Straits of Tiran which effectively cut Israel off from East Africa and the far East. In 1956, the UN ordered Egypt to allow free passage through the Suez Canal, but they refused. Later in 1956, Israel invaded Sinai. A cease fire was arranged by the UN Emergency Force. Ultimately Israel received access to the Gulf of Aqaba to the south, but not to the canal.

In 1959, Yasir Arafat, who had received training with the Egyptian army, formed the al-Fatah, the largest of the Palestinian guerrilla units.

In 1967, Egypt ordered the UN to remove it's troops from it's borders. On June 5 - 10, 1967, in what has become known as the Six-day war, Israel attacked and destroyed the Egyptian air force. Israel also hindered the air power of Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. In this short time, Israel captured Sinai, Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights. On June 11, a UN cease fire was put in place. Later that year, the UN Security Council called for Israel to withdraw the armed forces from occupied territories for a just and lasting peace ... again the Arab nations rejected the idea.

After the 1967 war, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) moved to Jordan. In 1969, al-Fatah took control of the PLO and Yasir Arafat became Chairman. Under Arafat, the PLO received official recognition from many nations. In 1970, the Jordanian army expelled the PLO in a bloody civil war after which the PLO moved to Lebanon and continued attacks against Israel from there.

In 1973, Egypt and Syria made a surprise attack on one of Israel's most set apart days ... Yom Kippur. Israel suffered losses, but quickly recovered to make a crushing defeat on both nations. The Accords signed in 1974-5 had Israel withdraw from southern Sinai and from the Eastern Golan. The results of the fighting and the accords was the resignation of Golda Meirs Labor government in Israel and the official takeover by the Likud party in the 1977 elections which was headed by Manaheim Begin.

In 1974, Arafat addressed the UN General Assembly and in 1976 the PLO, which is technically a stateless society, joined the League of Arab States. In 1977, Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat proposed a peace plan with Israel which led to mediation with US President Jimmy Carter and the Camp David Accord in 1979. Isreal was now allowed the use of the Suez Canal. However, the Arab League was angered by this peace treaty and suspended Egyptian membership and moved its headquarters from Cairo to Tunis.

The last two decades within this century proved to be very busy politically. In the late 80's and early 90's there were many Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union. This caused a large amount of Jewish construction in the occupied territories to ease the overcrowding of the cities which greatly angered the Arab nations.

In 1981 Egyptian president el-Sadat was assassinated. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon to force the PLO out. This caused the Palestinians to disperse across the Arab nations and the PLO to be split into factions with some loyal to Arafat and others favoring more extreme Syrian leadership.

By 1987, the overcrowding and poverty within the Gaza strip (which is mostly Muslim Palestinian), lead to the Intifada (translated 'shaking off') uprising. In 1988, the Legislative body of the PLO declared Palestine an independent state and voted to accept UN resolutions that recognized Israel's right to exist ... Israel refused to deal with the PLO.

In 1989, Egypt was re-instated into the League of Arab States and the headquarters were moved back to Cairo. In 1991, there was the Persian Gulf War and Saddam Hussein's scud missle attack on Israel. At U.S. urging, Israel did not respond to this attack. This restraint led to the opening of negotiations between Israel and Arab neighbors.

In 1992, Yitzhak Rabin became prime minister for the Labor party and started a program to work for peace with Arab nations. Rabin also announced a freeze in building settlements in the West Bank area. In 1993, the Oslo Norway Accord was signed in Washington. In this, Israel agreed to recognize the PLO and granted limited self-rule in the Gaza strip and Jericho. This also included a mutual pledge to work for a permanent peace agreement. In 1994, the Declaration of Principles was signed and was regarded as the start towards peace. At this time, Israeli police left those areas and the Palestinian Police moved in.