Explain the changes in Arab-Israeli conflict.

by adiththomasgmailcom (student)

The First Arab Israeli War was the first large scale military involvement between the state of Israel and its Arab neighbours, and it set the precedent for forthcoming engagements. The war was initially close-fought, but after the truce, when Israel received its armaments from Czechoslovakia, the battle was fairly one sided, with the Israeli unity and desire to strengthen the state of Israel overpowering the larger yet disorganised Arab forces, who seemed to be fighting for their own gain, rather than the greater good of the Arabs. The land gains made by the end of the first Arab-Israeli war were the first steps in the consolidation of the state of Israel.

This links to a way in which the military dominance of Israel increased, and the conflict between the Arabs and the Israelis changed, in the way that the involvement of the Superpowers became more prominent during the Suez Canal crisis. Nasser received economic funding from the USSR for his Aswan Dam project, and it was his nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company that triggered the British and French to team up with the Israelis to fight against what the British saw as a threat. However, there was further Superpower involvement from the US, in the sense that it was them who threatened to withdraw economic support if the British and French did not withdraw from the Middle East, and condemned their imperialist behaviour. Therefore, although the Israeli military strength was still prominent, the involvement of the superpowers was increased.

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This links to further military dominance by the Israelis, effectively climaxing, during the events of the Six Day war, and this marked a way in which conflict between the two groups changed in that it became evident that terrorism was more effective at damaging Israel than through militaristic means. Israel launched a pre-emptive strike on 5 May 1967, and was able to defeat the entirety of the surrounding Arab states due to effective tactics and planning. The strength of the Israeli Defence force was seen through the destruction of 90% of Egypt’s air force while the planes were still grounded, and the proficiency of the Mossad was proven through the undercover operations in Syria. After this, terrorist activities were heightened, seen by the actions of the Black September group, as well as numerous plane hijackings, while military advances became less common.

This links to what was essentially the last military engagement between the Arabs and the Israelis, as a sort of last effort by the Arabs, especially with the newfound support from the USSR, who had donated SAMs to Egypt and provided Russian military technicians to Egypt and Syria, as well as a total of 3 billion dollars. The Yom Kippur War was an example of how conflict changed in that the Arabs were far more successful than ever before. The surprise attack on the 6th of October 1973 on the holy day of Yom Kippur, was extremely effective, and the Israeli forces were heavily pushed back. However, involvement from the USA, donating armaments and 2 billion dollars resulted in the Israelis being able to fight back after victory at Chinese Farm, and they were able to reach within 100km of Cairo. This shows how conflict changed in that there was even more involvement from the superpowers, and it was the first real sign of Arab success.

Overall, conflict changed in that the Superpower became increasingly involved throughout the time scale, and the Israeli proficiency became more and more dominant, apart from in the Yom Kippur war, where conflict changed in that it was the first example of Arab success.