- Oil has always played a huge part in the economy and many countries relied on the Arab states to provide oil for them, therefore, many countries did not want to upset the Arab countries. I believe that oil did play an important part in some of the wars; however there are other causes why war broke out.
Oil was a small factor in the war of 1956. The British prime minister, Anthony Eden feared that Nasser “will have to place their united oil resources under the control of a united Arabia led by Egypt and under Russian influence. When that moment comes Nasser can deny oil to Western Europe and we shall all be at his mercy”. He expressed his concern over the growing relationship between the USSR and Egypt, and also feared that Nasser will be able to cut off oil supplies and soon Britain will suffer. As a result of the 1956 war, Britain faced an economic slump as the Arabs cancelled their supplies to them. I believe that oil was not the cause of the 1956 war, but at the end of the war, it did have a big effect on the world. Oil did not have a part to play in 1967, however in the war of 1973, oil was a huge factor. The oil producing states of the Arab Gulf decided to exploit oil by raising the price of oil by 70% and cut oil production by 10%. Also, oil exports to the United States was cancelled which created inflation and world wide recession. The importance of oil is expressed in these wars; therefore oil was a huge factor in the cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Although oil was an important factor, I do not believe it was the only factor. Many reasons led to war. Another main factor is Nasser’s personality. I believe that his behaviour and actions caused the war in 1956. His actions were provocative, such as nationalising the Suez Canal and in 1967; he closed the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli ships. These actions forced Israel to call war against Egypt. In 1973, after he died, the next president aimed to achieve the goals of Nasser and war broke out again is 1973.
Furthermore, another cause for the wars is Arab Nationalism. All the Arabs states were angered to see Israel being awarded to the Jews, and they refused to accept them as a state. At first, they weren’t united as much in 1956, but Nasser made it his aim to return Palestine to the Arabs and after the 1956 war, he had a united Arab nation under his command. These Arab nations all had one goal on their schedule, which was to regain occupation of Palestine. As they had each others’ support they were able to attack in 1967 and 1973. Arab Nationalism is an important factor, however just having a goal in mind cannot cause a war, and I believe that it only made wars easier to happen, as the Arabs would just wait for one tiny spark and start war.
Another factor which led to war was the USSR and USA foreign policies’. During the conflict, the USA and USSR were still in the cold war, and the USSR were first to gain influence in the Middle East. They supported the Arabs and promised to provide them with weapons and training. The USA, realising this threat, and also looking to influence the Middle East, sent weapons and supplies to Israel. Although there was no involvement of the USA and USSR in the 1956 war, they could be accused for causing the 1967 war, as their support and supplies made the Arabs and Israeli eager to resolve their conflict with war. They were also involved in the war in 1973, sending supplies during the war.
In conclusion, one single factor cannot be outlined as the cause of all three wars. The Arab-Israeli conflict was a complex situation, and for each war there were different factors in the cause of it. The two main factors which caused the war, in my opinion, are Nasser’s behaviour and oil. Nasser’s behaviour led to extreme actions which was enough to anger Israel and force war. His behaviour also led to war in 1967. However, in 1970, Nasser died, so he couldn’t provoke war in 1973. Instead, the Arabs raised the price of oil, thereby affecting the world’s economy. For these reasons, I believe that oil was not the only factor which caused the three wars between the Arabs and Israel.
- Throughout the Arab-Israeli conflict Israel relied on the USA to send them money and weapons. Without these aids, Israel wouldn’t be properly equipped allowing the Arabs to defeat them at will because the Arabs were united and had Israel surrounded at all four corners. To prevent a massacre the USA sent help to Israel to help them fight back. But why were the wars so quick? And how did Israel win the wars? USA help played a part for these wins, but it wasn’t the only factor on the road to Israeli victory. There are other key factors in why Israel was able to beat the Arabs.
The first war which Israel won, the Suez-Sinai war in 1956 the tactics used by the Israeli troops could be the reason for their victory. They planned the war with Britain and France in Paris, which worked for them as Israel managed to invade Egypt and won occupation of Sinai. Another factor which could have led to Israeli victory is that the Arab military was not as strong as the Israeli army who were being supported by Britain and France at the time. There was no involvement of the USA in this war; therefore the Israeli had to rely of their tactics in this war. The Israeli leaders believed that the best form of defence was to attack, so they attacked Egypt first, and with help from British and French attacks, they had occupied Sinai within a week. The Arab army were unable to fight against this surprising attack, and they were soon beaten.
War in 1967 involved many Arab nations against Israel. It seemed certain that the Arabs would win this time. There were eight Arab states against one Israel. The Arabs were confident of victory and were united and helped each other out. Israel managed to defeat them this time by their tactics. Through this the Israelis then surprised attacked Egypt and within six days they had managed to withstand attacks and maintained their land and also win a fair bit more. This now made them stronger. Once again, the Israeli approach was a key factor to their triumph. They attacked Egypt quickly from their air and destroyed many airplanes. This meant they had total domination in the skies. All they had to concentrate on was the fighting on land. This quick was an unexpected surprise to the Arabs and they were unable to retaliate quickly enough. There was less involvement of American help in this war, and although the USSR was heavily providing Syria with weapons and training, they were still unable to beat Israel. Also, the weakness in the Arab tactics was that they were unable to defend each other quick enough and they lost their pride after this humiliating defeat. After this war Palestinians everywhere lost faith in the inability of the Arab states to defeat Israel.
The war in Yom Kippur saw a major change in Arab tactics. They used Yom Kippur, they Israeli holy day, to attack Israel. This gave them the advantage because all soldiers were at leave. However, this did not go to plan to the Arab liking because Israeli soldiers were quickly all at home, were quickly contacted to fight against the Arab. Also, the holiday meant that roads were empty allowing tanks to move fast along the road towards the battle areas. This also saw major involvement from the U.S because they rushed $2200 million worth of weapons to Israel. This let them stop the Syrians attacking from the north. The Americans also sent troops to Israel to aid them. Likewise, the Arabs were being supplied by the USSR but they still appeared weak and were unable to beat Israel. In this war, American help was extremely important because their help allowed Israel soldiers to block off attack coming from Syria. Considering these wars, I believe that U.S help was a very key factor in the success of Israel in these wars. Without U.S help, Israel would definitely be crushed by the Arabs. The USA sent money, soldiers and weapons to Israel to help them fight the Arabs. However for the Americans their goal was to stop USSR spreading their influence across the Middle East because the cold war was still going on so the Americans allied with Israel.
There are other factors; however that could have also contributed with the triumph of Israel and the demise of the Arabs. Although the Arabs, united, seemed strong, they were easily taken out by the Israel army because of their surprising attack and their planning. Israel managed to plan their attacks and carry them out, successfully. The Arabs had many men in numbers but they weren’t united and didn’t fight quickly enough, unlike the Israel. Once they did attack early but again quick Israeli preparation meant they were able to fight back and defend their territory.
To conclude I believe that U.S help was a decisive factor in enabling the Israelis to win the wars because at the time Israel were still relatively a new state and they needed time to settle but they weren’t able to because of Arab outrage and attacks. With the help of the USA, they were able to find soldiers, modern weapons and war vehicles to fend off attacks and also win the wars.
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