Modern History

July 22, 2006 (Press Release) -- At the time of WWI, Britain promised Arabs they'd recognise an Arab state, and Jews they'd support a Jewish homeland in Palestine. When the war ended, Britain was given a mandate to rule the country, and as Europe moved towards WWII, Britain decided to stop all migration to Israel. Desperate illegal immigrants continued to arrive, and the Arab population responded violently. By 1947 the situation had reached an impasse, Britain gave up its mandate and a resolution was passed to divide the country between Arabs and Jews. On 14 May 1948 Israel came into being. Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon invaded soon after but were defeated and when a ceasefire was declared in May 1949, Israel had extended the territory under its control into Palestine. Citizenship was offered to any Jewish person wishing to immigrate and the country began to fill with new arrivals. In 1956, in response to Egyptian moves to take control of the Suez, Israeli, British and French armies invaded Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Under strong international pressure, Israel handed back the Sinai, and British and French troops withdrew. Hostilities continued to percolate between Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. On June 5 1967 Israel reacted pre-emptively to the threats surrounding it and launched attacks against Arab troops along its borders. In the ensuing 'Six-Day War' Israel extended its territory into the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. In response, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), founded in 1964, reformed under Yasser Arafat. The PLO claimed to be the sole representative of the Palestinian people and it vowed to regain their land and destroy the Israeli state. In 1979, after having unsuccessfully attempted to regain the Sinai from Israel in the Yom Kippur War (1973), Egypt signed a mutual recognition pact with Israel and the Sinai was handed back. Relations with Lebanon and Syria deteriorated and in 1981, Lebanon was invaded and the Golan Heights were formally annexed. Israel withdrew in 1985 but the area along its border in south Lebanon remained an occupied 'security zone' until 2000. A peace deal with Jordan was signed. In 1987 a popular Palestinian uprising, the intifada, aimed at ending the encroachment of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. It employed guerrilla warfare against Israeli forces. In 1993, the Oslo Peace Accord put mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO on the agenda. It also offered limited Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza. The chances of success were scuttled when, in 1995, the Israeli Prime Minister Yitxhak Rabin was assassinated. His replacement, Binyamin Netanyahu, took a hard line in negotiations. During his time, Israeli settlements spread in the West Bank and Gaza and terrorist activity increased. Ehud Barak was elected in 1999. At Camp David, far-reaching proposals were put on the table in exchange for a guarantee of safety and security and a cessation of terrorist violence. The Palestinians rejected the offer, with a stalemate on the status of Jerusalem, the right of return of Palestinian refugees and the need for a final settlement. With this opportunity missed, the situation rapidly deteriorated. Following a provocative visit by Ariel Sharon to the al-Aqsa/Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem, vicious fighting broke out in the West Bank between Palestinian Authority police and Israeli soldiers. This incident and its fall-out left many dead and wounded; 300 had been killed by the end of 2000.

Source: http://www.yahoo.com