40 years of peace talks

40 years of Peace Talks

1977 Menachem Begin became Prime Minister in Israel


Begin – led the Israeli opposition fo 30 years Wanted to make deal with Egypt over Sinai

Desert Did not want to let go of West Bank Egyptian President Anwar Sadat wanted to end

war with Israel and was willing to give up Sinai Penninsula

Sadat shocked the world and announced he would go personally to Knesset to seek peace

Syrian Leader Assad and PLO’s Arafat were very upset by this announcement.


Begin did not want to destroy Israeli Sinai Settlements

Sadat was determined to get rid of settlements in the Sinai desert

Sadat thought this would be the first step to peace between all Jews, Arabs, and Palestinians


President Jimmy Carter got involved in Peace Talks

40 YEARS OF PEACE TALKS

September 1978 President Carter hosted Sadat and Begin at Camp David

13 days of negotiating to reach Agreement

40 Years of Peace Talks

Egypt agreed to make Peace with Israel Israel would return Sinai to Egypt Israel would close the Israeli Settlements in

the Sinai desert Sadat and Begin agreed to give autonomy

and limited local power to Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza This was rejected by the PLO

This brought an end to 30 years of conflict between Egypt and Israel


After peace agreement, Begin was free to act without fear of Egypt attacking

Increased settlements in West Bank from 45 to 112

Begin was worried about PLO in Lebanon and was now free to attack

1975 Israelis set up South Lebanon Army (SLA) Made up of Lebanese Christians whom Israel saw as

allies March, 1978 Israel invaded southern Lebanon

Following a bus bombing by the PLO


Bus Bombing in 1978


Large number of Palestinians and Israelis were killed because of the invasion.

Israel withdrew from most of the border but kept some troops on a small plot of land

June, 1982 Israel again invaded Lebanon Operation Peace of Galilee

Took 3 years for Israelis to withdraw from Lebanon

Arafat and the PLO finally pulled out of Lebanon in August


DIVISIONS IN THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY RELIGIOUS JEWS JEWS WHO PAY LITTLE ATTENTION TO JEWISH FAITH ISRAELI JEWS FROM EUROPEAN BACKGROUND JEWS FROM AFRICA AND ASIAN BACKGROUNDS SUPPORTERS OF THE LEFT-WING LABOUR PARTY SUPPORTERS OF THE RIGHT-WING LIKUD ISRAELI JEWS WHO WANT TO COMPROMISE WITH

PALESTINIANS ISRAELI JEWS WHO WANT THE GOVERHMENT TO

TAKE A TOUGH LINE WITH PALESTINIANS


LABOUR PARTY –Sees itself caring on the work of early left wing socialists. Socialists wanted good relations with their Arab

neighbors as far back as 1920 Dominated Israeli government for 30 years

Many Jews wanted nothing to do with the Arabs and thought Force should be used Vladimir Jabotinsky – leader of the hardliners “What is needed is an Iron Wall of Armed

force….No agreement was possible with the Palestinian Arab.”


Ben Gurion was the Socialist leader that disagreed with Jabotinsky and the hardline approach.

Ben Gurion called for Havlaga Hebrew term meaning “self restraint”

Divisions among Jews increased in the 1940’s 2 armies one for the left wing and one for

the right wing. Haganah – left wing Irgun – Right wing


Left Wing was much more popular and Ben Gurion was the first Prime Minister 1948

Right Wing leader = Menachim Begin Ben Gurion accepted the UN Partition

Plan Begin rejected Partition Plan and said

that all of Palestine should be under Jewish Control 1948

Ben Gurion attacked a Irgun ship and sunk it.


European Jews = Ashkenazi JewsArab Jews = Sephardic Jews

Sephardic Jews had trouble intergrading into Israeli Life.

Trouble finding workLanguage Problemsstarted to turn against the Labour

Party and joined the Likud Party


Sephardic Jews helped get Begin elected to Prime Minister

Fast Forward to 1989 – Soviets allow Jews to leave the country and huge migration to Israel

More than 700,000 immigrants by 1996 and they created a new party – Yisrael Bealiya

This new party alligned with hard liners and Likud


THE SETTLEMENT MOVEMENT Orthodox believe it is God’s Plan to have all

Jews live in Israel The Orthodox are huge supporters of the

Settlement movement. Hebrew Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful)

1967 1967 – Labour Party established a small

number of Israeli settlements in West Bank for defensive reasons

Likud wanted many more settlements established


1977LIKUD TAKES POWER Huge expansion in settlements 1976 – 1996 Increase in settlers from

4,000 to over 100,000 Middle of 1990’s settlers constituted about

10% of population of the West Bank West Bank town of Hebron – tension

between settlers and Palestinian Settlers have to be protected by Armed

Israeli Guards


One of many West Bank Settlements


ARMED GUARDS IN THE 1980’S


Palestinian merchant in West Bank


AMERICAN INFLUENCE ON ISRAEL 1951 Israel and US signed a treaty of

Friendship US has tried to influence Israel to

negotiate a peace deal Madrid Peace Conference 1991 1992 President Bush told Israel to stop

expanding Settlements in the West Bank but Israelis refused to change.

1993 – American Pressure lead to an agreement Bill Clinton elected President in 1992 PLO and Israeli peace deal was signed in

Washington, DC

40 YEARS OF UNREST

INTIFADA PALESTINIAN UPRISING FROM 1987 TO

1991 Started in a refugee camp, and then spread

to the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem

Civil unrest and disobedience and boycotting of Israeli products

Israeli’s started to look to government to do something


WHAT WAS AGREED TO? Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-

Government Arrangements it was the first direct, face-to-face agreement

between the government of Israel and the PLO. the Israeli government recognized the PLO as the

legitimate representative of the Palestinian people

PLO recognized the right of the state of Israel to exist and renounced terrorism as well as other violence, and its desire for the destruction of the Israeli state.

40 YEARS OF NEGOTIATIONS Palestinian Interim Self-Government

Authority, an elected Council, for the Palestinian

people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,

a transitional period not exceeding five years, leading to a permanent settlement

based on UN Security Council Resolution 242 and 338

Israel withdraw from Gaza Strip and Jericho area

Arafat took control of Gaza and West Bank

40 YEARS OF NEGOTIATIONS PEACE AGREEMENT WITH JORDAN

SIGNED IN 1993 PALESTINIANS REACTION TO THE PEACE

DEALS It did not remove settlements from the

West Bank Israeli settlers not under Palestinian Rule Arab East Jerusalem was excluded from

deal Israeli forces still present in Palestinian

territories Nothing regarding refugees

40 YEARS OF PEACE NEGOTIATIONS

ISRAELI REACTION Right Wing and religious Israelis were not

happy Give up West Bank which had historical

significance Did not trust PLO Tried to stop the peace agreements

Israeli settler killed 29 in the West Bank in the center of Hebron

1994 – Hamas suicide bombings of buses 1995 – Jewish extremist killed Rabin Showed the divided nature of Israeli society


RABIN ASSASINATION Turning point of Israeli history Would have won 1996 election More attacks by Hamas and thus Israelis

thought peace deal was not working

40 years of peace talks

Education

years of peace talksbegin

years of peace talkslikud

years of peace talksdivisions

years of peace talksseptember

years of peace talksone

years of peace talksegypt

years of peace talksleft

years of peace talksben