Download The Middle East and the United States

By: Noorain Zafar
Anson
Ambreen Fatima
Kim Carter
The Israeli-Palestinian-Arab
Conflict in a Nutshell
History's legacy created divisive issues between Palestinians and Israelis. Judea,
home of the Jews in ancient times, was conquered by the Romans and renamed
Palestine. Palestine was later conquered and inhabited by Arabs for over a thousand
years. The Zionist movement arose to restore the Jews to Israel, largely ignoring the
existing Arab population. Following the Balfour Declaration in 1917, Palestine was
granted to Britain as a League of Nations mandate to build a national home for the
Jewish people. This became an issue as the Arabs resented the Jews coming in to take
their land. Led by Grand Mufti Hajj Amin El Husseini, they rioted repeatedly and
later revolted, creating a history of enmity between Jews and Arabs in Palestine.
Britain stopped Jewish immigration to Palestine. Following the Holocaust, in which 6
million Jews were killed by the Nazis, pressure on Britain increased to allow Jewish
immigration to Palestine. In 1947, the UN partitioned the land into Arab and Jewish
states. The Arabs did not accept the partition and war broke out. The Jews won a
decisive victory, expanded their state and created several hundred thousand
Palestinian refugees. The Arab states refused to recognize Israel or make peace with
it. Wars broke out in 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982, and there were many terror raids
and Israeli reprisals.
Before War…
-Israel accomplished its "Declaration of Independence," which proclaims
the existence of a Jewish state called Israel beginning on May 15, 1948, at
12:00 midnight Palestine time.
- Immediately after which, it gained the support of U.S.
-The United States faced growing tensions with allies over its support of Israel's military
campaign to cripple Hezbollah, amid calls for a cease-fire to help with the mounting
humanitarian crisis.
- European allies were particularly alarmed about the disproportionately high civilian death
toll in Lebanon. They were also concerned that the U.S. position will increase tensions
between the Islamic world and the West by fueling militants, and would add to the
problems of the U.S.-led coalition force in Iraq.
Why did U.S support Israel?
Political Support
• The US was the first country to recognize Israel, only minutes after it was
officially created in 1948, consistent with a 1922 Congressional resolution
backing the League of Nations mandate for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Since then, the two countries have developed a rock-solid friendship that
does not depend on the parties in power either in Washington or Jerusalem.
While there have certainly been ups and downs, the basic bond between the
US and Israel, the only country in the Middle East that resembles the US in
its values and democracy, is very strong.
Economic Support
 In 1951 the US provided the first aid to Israel, $65 million to help Israel take in
Holocaust survivors
 There has been economic aid to Israel every year since 1949, with the
amounts fluctuating, generally increasing as the cooperation with Israel
became closer or in years when Israel was forced to fight defensive wars or
terrorism from 1960 until 1985.
Other Reasons for U.S support
for Israel:
• In the following decades, Israel and the US
worked together to counter the greatest threats
to American interests in the Middle East. These
threats include the large creations of weapons of
mass destruction; state-sponsored terrorism; the
potential disruption of access to Middle East oil;
and the spread of Islamic extremism.
May 17, 1939: British White
Paper on Palestine
May 25, 1939: Senator Harry S.
Truman inserts in the
Congressional Record strong
disapproval of the British White
Paper on Palestine, saying it is a
dishonorable negation by Britain
of her duty.
Loy Henderson, director of the
State Department's Near East
Agency, writes to Secretary of State
James Byrnes that the United States
would lose its moral status in the
Middle East if it supported Jewish
goal in Palestine.
Senators Robert Wagner of New
York and Robert Taft of Ohio
introduce a resolution
expressing support for a Jewish
state in Palestine.
The report of the
Intergovernment Committee
on Refugees, called the
Harrison Report, is presented
to President Truman. The
report is very dangerous of the
treatment by Allied forces of
refugees, particularly Jewish
refugees, in Germany.
State-War-Navy organize
Committee warns that if the
United States uses armed
force to support the
accomplishment of the
proposal of the report of the
Anglo-American Committee
of Inquiry, the Soviet Union
might be able to increase its
power and influence in the
Middle East, and United
States access to Middle East
oil could be jeopardized.
September: President Clark Clifford
writes to the President to warn that
the Soviet Union wishes to achieve
complete economic, military and
political domination in the Middle
East.
On the eve of Yom Kippur, President
Truman issues a statement indicating
United States support for the creation of a
"viable Jewish state."
Loy Henderson, director of the State
Department's Near East Agency, warns
that the immigration of Jewish
Communists into Palestine will increase
Soviet influence there.
October 1946: President Truman writes
to King Saud of Saudi Arabia,
informing the king that he believes
"that a national home for the Jewish
people should be established in
Palestine."
The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine issues its
report, which recommends unanimously (all 11 member states
voting in favor) that Great Britain terminate their mandate for
Palestine and grant it independence at the earliest possible date;
and which also recommends by majority vote (7 of the member
nations voting in favor) that Palestine be partitioned into Jewish
and Arab states.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff argue in a memorandum entitled "The
Problem of Palestine" that the partition of Palestine into Jewish
and Arab states would enable the Soviet Union to replace the
United States and Great Britain in the region and would endanger
United States access to Middle East oil.
May 14, 1948: late morning eastern standard
time (late afternoon in Palestine): David BenGurion, Israel's first prime minister, reads a
"Declaration of Independence," which
proclaims the existence of a Jewish state called
Israel beginning on May 15, 1948, at 12:00
midnight Palestine time (6:00 p.m., May 14,
1948,eastern standard time). The British
permission for Palestine end, and the state of
Israel comes into being.
The United States recognizes Israel, The White
House issues the following statement: "This
Government has been informed that a Jewish
state has been proclaimed in Palestine, and
recognition has been requested by the
provisional government thereof. The United
States recognizes the provisional government
as the de facto authority of the State of Israel."
…that’s the document!.
January 31, 1949: The United States recognizes
Israel on a de jure basis.
February 24 to July 20, 1949: Israel signs armistice agreements
with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
Moves toward Peace in the
Middle East
• Although bloody wars seemed to be raging all over the
post-cold war world, there were breakthroughs toward
peace. The U.S played an important role in several
peace efforts in the Middle East.
• The following are two examples how U.S helped in
creating peace terms between Middle East countries:
Israeli-PLO Agreement
•
Of all the conflicts in the Middle East, the Arab-Israeli conflict has
been the most enduring and difficult.
•
Brief History – When Israel was created from British-occupied
Palestine in 1948, Palestinian Arabs had been forced to move to the
West Bank of Jordan River. This area soon came under the control of
Jordan, however. With the support of Arab leaders, in 1964 some of
these displaced people formed the Palestinian Liberation
Organization (PLO) to work toward the elimination of Israel and the
creation of an independent Arab Palestine.
• Fearing attack by its Arab neighbors, in 1967 Israel seized the Gaza Strip from Egypt and Jordanian
territory west of the River Jordan, including Jordan’s part of Jerusalem, the capital. For 20 years after 1967
war, Arabs and Israelis-occupied territories. Then in 1987 the Palestinians in both areas began an uprising.
Finally in 1991 the U.S helped start Israeli-Arab peace-talks. Peace talks continued after President Clinton
took office.
• The peace talks proceeded until September 13 1993, when the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and
the PLO leader Yasir Arafat reached an agreement. The PLO. signed the Oslo Declaration of Principles,
renouncing violence and recognizing the right of Israel to exist. In return, Israel allowed the PLO to enter
the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Palestinians gained control of most of the population of these areas.
Peace between Israel and Jordan
•
President Clinton also helped to work out a peace agreement between Israel and Jordan.
•
In July 1994, Israel’ Prime Minister Rabin and Jordan’s King Hussein signed a historic peace treaty officially
ending their state of war that had existed between their countries for half a century now. The treaty also set
up a framework for cooperation in the environmental protection, tourism, and trade.
Did this peace continue?
•
Not for long ,as there was a growing opposition to the peace plan. Palestinian leaders contended that
growing Israeli settlements on the West Bank violated the spirit of the agreement. On the other hand, Israelis
feared that a fully independent Palestinian state would be a threat to their nation.
•
Israeli leaders drew away from the agreement when the militant Palestinian groups attacked Israelis
settlements.
•
In November 1995, an Israeli who opposed his government’s policy with the Palestinians assassinated Prime
Minister Rabin.
•
A series of terrorists attacks further rocked Israel, and the 1996 election of a more conservative prime
minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, signaled a shift toward a harder line in negotiations with the Palestinians.
Relations Today
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
High priorities in the foreign policy of Israel include seeking an end to hostilities with Arab forces, against
which it has fought six wars since 1948 and gaining wide acceptance as a sovereign state with an important
international role.
The State of Israel joined the United Nations on May 11, 1949. Today, Israel has diplomatic relations with 161
states. It is notable as a probable nuclear power, though has refused to confirm or deny the existence of a
nuclear weapons arsenal.
The relations between Israel and the United States have evolved from an initial United States policy of
sympathy and support for the creation of a Jewish state in 1948 (It was the first country to recognize the
establishment of the State) to an unusual partnership that links Israel with the United States trying to balance
competing interests in the Middle East region. The United States has been considered Israel's most powerful
and supportive ally for almost 60 years.
Following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, diplomats have been discussing the possibility of improved
relations between Israel and Iraq. However, then-Iraqi PM Iyad Allawi said in 2004 that Iraq would not
establish ties with Israel.
In 2005, Saudi Arabia announced the end of its ban on Israeli goods and services, mostly due to its
application to the World Trade Organization, where one member country cannot have a total ban on another.
However, as of summer 2006 Saudi boycott was not cancelled
Although the Soviet Union initially sought to develop close ties with Israel, Soviet-Israeli relations worsened
in the 1950s as Moscow turned to Egypt and Syria as its primary allies in the Middle East. The Soviet Union
and the other communist states of Eastern Europe (except Romania) broke diplomatic relations with Israel in
the 1967 Six-Day War. However, those relations were restored by 1991.
Relations between Israel and Iran have alternated from close political alliances between the two states during
the era of the Pahlavi dynasty to hostility following the rise to power of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Currently, the countries do not have diplomatic relations with each other.