Security Council 

     In its immediate context, the Arab-Jewish conflict is a protracted civil war between Jewish immigrants and native Palestinian Arabs. In a broader sense it means the confrontation between vindictive young Jewish nationalism and Arab nationalism, within the wider framework of Arab states and international Judaism. 

     In a further sense, it is a projection of the existing rivalry for hegemony over oil wealth and the strategic importance of Western Asia. The interrelation of these diverse aspects explains the complexity of the Arab-Jewish problem and its potential to endanger international peace. 

    It also explains the curious paradox of an Israel three times victorious, but manifestly incapable of turning its military triumph into a viable peace. In other words, the war sharpened the Jewish-Palestinian, Arab-Israeli and Soviet-American antagonisms in West Asia. 

     All of the above is in addition to the social, cultural and religious factors that make this issue a complex and extremely delicate situation. The review of this topic by this simulation therefore seeks to shed light on the participants about a conflict with deep historical roots, but also with broad repercussions on the current geopolitical balance, not only in the region, but also on the agenda. of the current international community. 

 

     The discussion time during this simulation will be equally divided in order to address four key moments within this topic: 

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     a) Palestine War (1947-1949): The First Arab-Israeli War of 1947-1949 broke out when five Arab nations invaded the territory of the former Palestinian mandate immediately after the announcement of the independence of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948 The fighting escalated with other Arab forces joining the Palestinian Arabs in attacking the former Palestinian mandate territory. 

     On the eve of May 14, the Arabs launched an air strike against Tel Aviv, which the Israelis resisted. This action was followed by the invasion of the former Palestinian mandate by the Arab armies of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Egypt. Saudi Arabia sent a formation that fought under Egyptian command. British-trained Transjordan forces eventually intervened in the conflict, but only in areas that had been designated as part of the Arab state under the United Nations Partition Plan. After tense first fighting, Israeli forces, now under joint command, managed to win the offensive. 

     Although the United Nations mediated two ceasefires during the conflict, fighting continued into 1949. Israel and the Arab states did not reach a formal armistice agreement until February. Under separate agreements between Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan, and Syria, these border nations accepted formal armistice lines. 

     Israel gained part of the territory previously granted to the Palestinian Arabs under the 1947 United Nations resolution. Egypt and Jordan retained control over the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, respectively. These armistice lines were maintained until 1967. The powers were not directly involved in the armistice negotiations, but they hoped that the instability in the Middle East would not interfere with the international balance of power between the Soviet Union and the United States, within the framework of a bipolar world.

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     b) Suez Crisis (1956): The Second Arab-Israeli War was triggered by the American and British decision not to finance the construction of the Aswan Dam, as promised, in response to Egypt's growing ties to the Communist Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. Egyptian President Nasser reacted to the decision by declaring martial law in the canal area and taking control of the Suez Canal Company, predicting that tolls collected from ships passing through the canal would pay for the construction of the dam in five years. Britain and France feared that Nasser would close the canal and cut off oil shipments flowing from the Persian Gulf to western Europe. 

     On October 29, 1956, ten Israeli brigades invaded Egypt and advanced towards the canal, overwhelming the Egyptian forces. Britain and France, following their plan, demanded that Israeli and Egyptian troops withdraw from the canal, and announced that they would intervene to enforce a United Nations-ordered ceasefire. On November 5 and 6, British and French forces landed at Port Said and Port Fuad and began to occupy the canal area. 

     This move was soon met with growing opposition at home and with US-sponsored resolutions at the UN (made in part to counter Soviet threats of intervention), which quickly put an end to Anglo-French action. On December 22, the UN evacuated the British and French troops, and the Israeli forces withdrew in March 1957. 

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     c) Six-Day War (1967): A series of border disputes were the main trigger for the Third Arab-Israeli War. In the second half of the 1960s, Syrian-backed Palestinian guerrillas had begun carrying out attacks across the Israeli border, sparking retaliatory incursions by the Israel Defense Forces. In April 1967, skirmishes escalated after Israel and Syria fought fierce air and artillery combat in which six Syrian fighters were destroyed. 

     Following the April air battle, the Soviet Union informed Egypt that Israel was moving troops to its northern border with Syria to prepare for a full-scale invasion. The information was inaccurate, but nonetheless prompted Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser to act. In a show of support for his Syrian allies, he ordered Egyptian forces to advance towards the Sinai Peninsula, where they expelled a United Nations peacekeeping force that had been guarding the border with Israel for more than a year. 

     In the days that followed, Nasser continued to sound the saber: On May 22, he banned Israeli navigation in the Strait of Tiran, the seaway connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. A week later, he made a defense pact with King Hussein of Jordan. 

     The brief war took place on June 5-10, 1967 and was the third of the Arab-Israeli wars. Israel's decisive victory included the capture of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Old City of Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights; the status of these territories later became a major point of contention in the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

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     d) Yom Kippur War (1973): The Fourth Arab-Israeli War was fought by the coalition of Arab countries led by Egypt and Syria against Israel, from October 6 to 25, 1973. With the exception of isolated attacks on Israeli territory on October 6 and October 9, military combat actions during the war took place on Arab territory, especially in the Sinai and the Golan Heights. Egypt and Syria wanted to take back the Sinai and the Golan Heights, respectively. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat also wanted to reopen the Suez Canal. 

     The war began when the Arab coalition launched a joint surprise attack on Israeli positions in the Israeli-occupied territories on Yom Kippur, Judaism's holiest day, which also occurred that year during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed the ceasefire lines to enter the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights, respectively, which had been captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Both the United States and the Soviet Union they began massive resupply efforts to their respective allies during the war, and this led to a short confrontation between the two nuclear superpowers. 

     On October 22, a United Nations-brokered ceasefire was quickly undone, with each side blaming the other for the breach. By October 24, the Israelis had improved their positions considerably and completed their encirclement of the Egyptian Third Army and the city of Suez. This event led to tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. As a result, a second ceasefire was cooperatively imposed on October 25 to end the war. 

    The war had far-reaching consequences. The Arab world, which had been humiliated by the lopsided defeat of the Egyptian-Syrian-Jordanian alliance in the Six Day War, felt psychologically vindicated by the early successes in the conflict. In Israel, despite impressive operational and tactical achievements on the battlefield, the war led to the recognition that there was no guarantee that it would always dominate Arab states militarily. These changes paved the way for the subsequent peace process. The Camp David Accords (1978) that followed resulted in the return of the Sinai to Egypt and the normalization of relations between the two countries: the first peaceful recognition of Israel by an Arab country. Egypt continued its estrangement from the Soviet Union and abandoned its area of ​​influence in its entirety.