Israel (country)

G

Peace with Egypt

In 1977 Sadat announced his willingness to meet with Israel publicly and openly to discuss peace. In November he arrived in Israel to address the Knesset, calling on Begin to negotiate peace. After nearly a year of stalled negotiations, U.S. president Jimmy Carter brought the parties together at Camp David, Maryland, in September 1978 to break the stalemate. Carter, Begin, and Sadat concluded the Camp David Accords, agreements that provided the outline and basis for a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel and for a comprehensive Middle East peace focusing on the Palestinian issues and the future of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In March 1979 Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty calling for Israel’s gradual withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula and the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Egypt and Israel opened their borders, established direct communication links, opened embassies, and exchanged ambassadors in 1980. Israel completed its Sinai withdrawal in 1982. The treaty eliminated the threat of Israel’s primary Arab adversary with the largest military capacity. It also led to increased U.S. economic and military assistance to both Israel and Egypt. However, it failed to bring about a comprehensive Middle Eastern peace. On the contrary, the Arab League condemned Egypt and suspended its membership.

Despite peace with Egypt, hostilities continued between Israel and other Arab nations. In June 1981 Begin sent Israel’s air force to destroy an Iraqi nuclear reactor near Baghdād, claiming it was being used for development of nuclear weapons. Later that year Israel effectively annexed the Golan Heights by extending Israeli civil law to the region; Syria refused to recognize Israel’s authority. Begin continued to push for Israeli settlement in all of the Occupied Territories, heightening tensions in those regions.

H

Invasion of Lebanon

The Lebanon border, which had been relatively quiet through the preceding Arab-Israeli wars, became the focus of Israeli security concerns in the early 1980s. Tensions between Lebanese Muslims and Christians had been heightened when the PLO, which had been expelled from Jordan in 1970, arrived in Lebanon. The situation was further complicated by the presence since 1976 of Syrian forces, who had originally intervened on behalf of Christians but soon allied with the PLO and other Muslims. PLO raids from Lebanon into Israel and the presence of Syrian missiles in Lebanon since early 1981 prompted Israel to launch a major military action, called “Operation Peace for Galilee,” into southern Lebanon in June 1982. The objectives of the raid were to ensure security for northern Israel and to destroy PLO infrastructure in Lebanon. Israel allied with Lebanese Christians, who also sought to expel the PLO. Under orders from Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, the Israeli military pushed north to Beirut, defeating PLO and Syrian forces. United States envoy Philip Habib negotiated a cease-fire, and the PLO withdrew its forces from Lebanon in August 1982.

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After the cease-fire, Bashir Gemayel, leader of a Maronite Christian party, was elected president of Lebanon but was assassinated on September 14. Subsequently, right-wing Lebanese Christian militiamen entered Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila near Beirut and massacred hundreds of Palestinians in the camps. The Israeli government established a commission of inquiry to investigate events pertaining to the massacre and to determine whether Israel held any responsibility for it. The commission’s report, issued in early 1983, found Israeli military leaders indirectly responsible for failing to anticipate or prevent the massacre. It recommended the resignation of Sharon and other military leaders. In May 1983 Israel and Lebanon signed an agreement confirming that “the states of war” between them had been terminated. However, under pressure from Syria, which held considerable political and military influence in Lebanon, Lebanese president Amin Gemayel nullified the agreement in March 1984. Israel withdrew most of its forces from Lebanon in 1985, leaving a small force in the south to maintain security along the border.

In the fall of 1983 Begin resigned from office. Affected by the death of his wife and the costs and continuing casualties to Israel of the war in Lebanon, Begin apparently believed that he could no longer perform his tasks as he felt he should. He was replaced by his foreign minister, Yitzhak Shamir. In the 1984 Knesset elections no party achieved a clear victory. The major parties agreed to the formation of a national unity government made up of the two major political blocs, Likud and Labor. The arrangement provided for the rotation of the leaders—Shamir for Likud and Shimon Peres for Labor—in the positions of prime minister and foreign minister, which each would hold for 25 months, beginning with Peres as prime minister. The government withdrew Israel’s forces from Lebanon, leaving a small component in a security zone along the Lebanon-Israel border. It also acted to control inflation, which had risen to more than 400 percent per year, by imposing cuts in government expenditures and freezing wages and the exchange rate. It then worked to smooth the way for economic growth, entering a free trade agreement with the United States in 1985 that improved Israel’s international trade position.

I

The Intifada and the Persian Gulf War

The relative quiet in the West Bank and Gaza Strip ended in December 1987 when a series of widespread demonstrations, strikes, riots, and violence known collectively as the intifada broke out. Encompassing the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the intifada began as a spontaneous expression of frustration and resentment at 20 years of Israeli rule and Jewish settlement in the Occupied Territories. As the movement expanded and became more violent, Israel responded with increasingly harsh reprisals, which drew international criticism. Efforts by Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin to stop the riots and demonstrations failed, as did an attempt by U.S. secretary of state George Shultz to initiate peace negotiations. The United States excluded the PLO from negotiations as long as the PLO refused to accept Israel’s right to exist, and Palestinians would not participate in negotiations that excluded the PLO. The PLO’s claim to be the representative of the Palestinian people was further strengthened when Jordan ceded to the PLO its territorial claim to the West Bank in July 1988.

The 1988 Israeli elections were again inconclusive, and a new national unity government was installed, but this time Shamir was to remain as prime minister throughout the tenure of the government. Peres became finance minister while Rabin remained as defense minister. At this time PLO chairman Yasir Arafat acknowledged Israel’s right to exist by accepting UN Security Council Resolution 242 (originally adopted by the UN in 1967), and Arafat renounced terrorism. As a result the United States and the PLO began a formal dialogue. In the spring of 1989 the Israeli government proposed a comprehensive peace initiative, but efforts to work out the details soon failed. Negotiations suffered a further setback when the United States suspended its dialogue with the PLO following Arafat’s refusal to condemn a terrorist raid on a beach near Tel Aviv by a group affiliated with the PLO.

In March 1990 the Knesset terminated the Shamir government with a vote of no confidence, the first such successful vote in Israel’s history. After efforts by former Finance Minister Peres to form a government failed, Shamir succeeded in establishing a coalition of Likud and several right-wing and religious parties in June 1990. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and the subsequent Persian Gulf War in 1991 further postponed efforts to seek an Arab-Israeli peace. During the war the United States and other members of an international coalition against Iraq excluded Israel from participation so as not to alienate the coalition’s Arab members. Soon after hostilities broke out in January 1991, Iraq fired Scud missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia in an effort to split the coalition by diverting Arab attention from its anti-Iraqi stance to its opposition to Israel. The plan failed because Israel, at the request of the United States, did not retaliate.

Another area of international affairs also affected Israel dramatically during this period. Beginning in 1989, when the Soviets relaxed restrictions on Jewish emigration, a massive wave of immigrants arrived in Israel. Between 1989 and 1998 more than 700,000 Jews emigrated from the Soviet Union (and, after the breakup of the Soviet Union in late 1991, parts of the former Soviet Union). Successfully absorbing newcomers into all facets of the country’s life once again became one of the main challenges facing Israeli society. Many of these immigrants were highly educated and trained, enhancing Israel’s skill base.

J

The Peace Process

The end of the Cold War, a 45-year period of tense relations between the United States and the USSR, and the success of the Gulf War coalition suggested new possibilities in the quest for an Arab-Israeli peace. After months of shuttle diplomacy by U.S. secretary of state James Baker, the United States and the USSR issued invitations to Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the Palestinians to a peace conference in Madrid, Spain, in the fall of 1991. Israel continued to exclude the PLO, insisting on meeting instead with a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation.

The Madrid conference convened in October 1991 and was followed by bilateral negotiations in Washington, D.C., several months later. Despite months of negotiations between Israel and the Lebanese, Syrian, and Jordanian-Palestinian delegations, no agreements emerged. Nevertheless, the conference was an important step on the road to peace because it involved direct, bilateral, public, and official peace negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors on the central political issues of the conflict.

In the midst of the Washington sessions, Labor emerged as the leading party in the Knesset elections in June 1992. As prime minister, Labor leader Yitzhak Rabin formed a coalition government of center and leftist parties. As the Washington sessions continued, Israel and the PLO began secret negotiations in Oslo, Norway, resulting in a breakthrough in the peace process. In 1993 the parties reached several important agreements and exchanged letters in which the PLO affirmed Israel’s right to exist in peace and security, and Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people. The PLO renounced the use of terrorism and other forms of violence and committed itself to resolve the conflict with Israel through peaceful negotiations.

On September 13, 1993, Rabin and Arafat witnessed the signing of a historic accord between Israel and the PLO at the White House in Washington. This Declaration of Principles (DOP), outlined a proposal for limited Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank town of Jericho. It also stated that within five years the two sides were to reach a comprehensive peace settlement regarding all remaining issues in dispute, including the status of Jerusalem. The agreement also set the stage for the establishment of an interim body, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), to administer these regions. Despite the general euphoric mood created by the agreement, right-wing Israeli parties and dissident Palestinian groups expressed dissent, sometimes in the form of terrorist attacks.

Shortly after the signing of the Declaration of Principles, Israel and Jordan entered into separate negotiations that led to the signing of a peace treaty in October 1994. The treaty addressed security, boundary demarcations and border crossings, control of water resources, police cooperation, environmental issues, and the establishment of normalized relations. Both parties agreed not to join, aid, or cooperate with any party intending to attack the other side and to prohibit military forces or equipment that could harm the other side from entering their territories. They pledged to cooperate in combating terrorism and to solve the problem of Palestinian refugees. They also agreed to cooperate on economic matters, including trade, development, and tourism. Finally, Israel recognized Jordan’s special role as guardian of Muslim holy places in Jerusalem, which angered Palestinians because it undermined their agreement with Israel to negotiate the status of Jerusalem at a later date.

Amid this initial progress toward peace, Israel was able to forge new diplomatic and trade relations with a large number of states in Africa and Asia, including China and India. Israel became more acceptable to the international community, and foreign trade grew dramatically, producing greater prosperity and an improved standard of living.

Meanwhile, Israeli-Palestinian negotiations continued. After reaching further agreements with the PLO concerning transfer of much of the Gaza Strip and Jericho to PNA administration, Israel completed its withdrawal from these areas in May 1994. The PNA, which was headed by Arafat and staffed primarily by PLO members, assumed control of civil matters in the Gaza Strip and Jericho and deployed a Palestinian police force to maintain internal security. Israel retained control over Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip as well as over security of the region’s borders. An interim agreement in September 1995 focused on Israeli withdrawals from the remaining Palestinian towns and cities in the West Bank and set the date of elections for the PNA’s president and its legislature, the Palestinian Legislative Council. The agreement also stated that after PNA elections, Israel would redeploy from Palestinian rural areas of the West Bank. Israel was to retain control over Jewish settlements and military installations until final status negotiations—including discussion of the status of Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, borders, and security arrangements—were completed.

K

Assassination of Rabin and Election of Netanyahu

In November 1995 Yigal Amir, an Israeli student who opposed the peace process, assassinated Rabin at a peace rally in Tel Aviv, claiming it was his religious duty to prevent the return of biblical lands to the Arabs. Shimon Peres, who as foreign minister under Rabin had been instrumental in peace negotiations, became Labor leader and prime minister. Peres proclaimed his desire to continue the peace process and carried out the terms of the interim agreement. Over the next several months Israel turned over civil administration of all other West Bank cities and most Palestinian towns and villages to the PNA, thus ending Israeli administration, established after the Six-Day War in 1967, over most of the Palestinian residents in the West Bank. In the cities, the PNA also assumed responsibility for internal security. The exception was Hebron, sacred to Jews as the site of King David’s capital prior to Jerusalem and the burial place of the Jewish patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Negotiations concerning Israel’s withdrawal from Hebron continued for another year. In Palestinian towns and villages, security came under joint control of a Palestinian police force and Israeli troops, with Israel’s authority predominant. As in the Gaza Strip, Israel retained control over Jewish settlements and over security of the West Bank’s borders, as well as over the travel routes between Palestinian settlements. In January 1996 Palestinians elected Yasir Arafat as president of the PNA and chose the members of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Despite Rabin’s assassination it appeared that the peace process was progressing as planned. However, terrorist attacks against Israel in early 1996, including suicide bombings by Palestinian militants, helped sway Israeli public opinion toward a position of fewer compromises. In May Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu became Israel’s first popularly elected prime minister and formed a coalition government determined to assure security for Israel. The government insisted that the PNA meet its obligations to prevent terrorism before Israel would make any more withdrawals. The peace process stalled despite efforts by the United States and others to restart it.

Negotiations between Israel and Syria, which had continued sporadically since the 1991 Madrid conference, were also affected by Likud’s return to power. Syrian president Hafez al-Assad believed progress had been made in the mid-1990s and wished to continue negotiations from where he and Israel’s former leaders had left off. However, Netanyahu and his coalition partners sought to reassess the situation and renegotiate the central issues, and the process stalled.

Although peace negotiations under the new Likud government had stalled, an agreement involving Hebron was completed and signed in January 1997. Israel withdrew from 80 percent of the city, maintaining control over Jewish settlements there. However, Israel decided the following month to proceed with a Jewish housing project in eastern Jerusalem, which the Palestinians viewed as a violation of preceding agreements. Negotiations again deadlocked. Terrorist attacks by Islamic groups, particularly by the Palestinian group Hamas, prompted Israel to demand more action by Palestinian leaders against terrorism. In September Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, attempted unsuccessfully to assassinate Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal in Jordan’s capital. The action strained Israeli-Jordanian relations.

Terrorist attacks by Islamic groups from Lebanon on the security zone and into northern Israel also plagued Israel. In 1998 Israel offered to withdraw from its security zone in southern Lebanon, which Israel had maintained since 1985, in return for Lebanon’s guarantee to prevent attacks on northern Israel by terrorist groups. Lebanon refused the offer, calling for an unconditional withdrawal.

By mid-1998 Netanyahu faced increasing criticism in the Knesset from both the right and the left. In October he signed a U.S.-brokered accord providing for Israeli withdrawals from an additional 13 percent of the West Bank. In return, the Palestinian leadership promised to improve security to prevent attacks on Israelis by Palestinian terrorist groups, and to remove from their national charter the clauses calling for the destruction of Israel. Netanyahu’s action drew harsh criticism from members of Likud and others opposed to land-for-peace agreements.

In December 1998, after the first Israeli withdrawal, Netanyahu froze the accord, citing Palestinian violations and placing new conditions on further withdrawals. This angered Labor and other parties that sought to move forward with the peace process. Netanyahu also faced defections of key coalition partners. That month the Knesset voted to call for elections in May 1999, a year before Netanyahu’s term was due to expire. In these elections, 15 parties, including 6 new parties, won seats. Labor, which had formed a coalition known as One Israel, won the largest number of seats, and Likud came in second. However, both parties wound up with fewer seats than they had held before the elections. Shas, a religious party consisting primarily of Sephardic Jews, came in third, while Meretz, a strongly pro-peace leftist party, placed fourth. Ehud Barak, leader of the Labor Party and the One Israel bloc, defeated Netanyahu in elections for prime minister.

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