In August 2005, the State of Israel “disengaged” from the Gaza Strip, removing all Israeli military installations, 25 Israeli settlements (4 in the West Bank) with over 8,000 residents. The Israel disengagement was unilateral, and was not the result of negotiations with the Palestinians. The disengagement plan was first proposed in December 2003, by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a long-time advocate for settlements, in a policy address to the annual Herzylia Conference. &nbsp…

The first Lebanon War was Israel’s longest and most controversial war. In the mid-1970s, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) broadened its presence in Lebanon, establishing military training centers and escalating artillery and cross-border attacks on civilians in northern Israel. Following the attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador in London, Israel attacked PLO targets in Lebanon on June 4, 1982. The PLO responded with rocket and artillery barrages, and Israel…

Palestinians refer to the events surrounding the establishment of the State of Israel as the Nakba, or catastrophe. Nakba Day is commemorated on May 15, the day of the start of the 1948 War of Independence. Some Palestinian politicians, writers and commentators use Nakba Day to insinuate that the very existence of Israel is a catastrophe and to question the legitimacy of Israel as the Jewish national homeland. This day is also marked by many Israeli Arabs, reflecting the difficulty of their…

Israel's establishment as an independent, sovereign state was officially declared in Tel-Aviv on Friday May 14, 1948 by Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion. Ben-Gurion’s declaration came on the day the British Mandate over Palestine was officially terminated, in accordance with UN Resolution 181 which called for the division of the land into a Jewish state and an Arab state.   Standing at the podium of what is now called Independence Hall, Ben-Gurion read Israel’s…

The Camp David Summit was convened by U.S. President Bill Clinton on July 11, 2000, to bring together Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority Chairman Arafat at Camp David for intensive negotiations for a final status agreement. By July 25, President Clinton announced that theSummithad failed and that no agreement had been reached. President Clinton publicly acknowledged that Prime Minister Barak had shown “particular courage and vision and an understanding of the…

After World War I, the League of Nations was charged with transferring control of territories previously controlled by the German and Ottoman Empires, giving administrative “mandates” to countries who were part of the victorious allied forces (Britain, France, Belgium and Australia). Under the Treaty of Sevres (1920) which divided the Ottoman Empire, the British were granted control over Transjordan (modern day Jordan) and Palestine (modern-day Israel, with the West Bank and Gaza…

In October/November 1991, just after the Gulf War, the United States and Russia convened an Arab-Israeli peace conference in Madrid. The historic conference marked the first time that Israel, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and a Palestinian delegation (which was officially part of the Jordanian delegation) sat at the same table to negotiate. The participants agreed to establish two tracks for negotiations: a bilateral track for direct negotiations between Israel and Syria, Israel and Lebanon, and…

The Balfour Declaration is the letter of November 2, 1917 from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Zionist leader Baron Rothschild which expressed the British government’s support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. The Balfour Declaration was heartily welcomed by the Zionist leadership. Subsequent British policy and declarations on this issue were less supportive of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Over a hundred years…

Zionism is the movement for the self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, the land of Israel. The vast majority of Jews around the world feel a connection or kinship with Israel, whether or not they explicitly identify as Zionists, and regardless of their opinions on the policies of the Israeli government. While there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the land of Israel over the millennia, the yearning to return to Zion, the biblical term…

Since Hamas forcibly took over Gaza from the Palestinian Authority in 2007, the terrorist organization has repeatedly attacked Israeli cities and towns in the Southern and Central parts of the country using an arsenal of missiles, rockets and other projectiles. In 2008, 2012 and 2014 Israel launched military operations in Gaza after it determined it had no choice but to respond to intensifying rocket and missiles attacks launched by Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza. During…

There have been two major wars between Israel and Lebanon in 1982 and 2006. In 1982, Israel’s longest and most controversial wars began when Israel sought to wipe out PLO positions in Southern Lebanon.  The First Lebanon War did not officially come to an end until May 2000 when Israel unilateral withdrew its forces from Southern Lebanon.  The so-called Second Lebanon War between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah was sparked by Hezbollah’s July 12, 2006, cross border…

What You Need to Know Background: The Status Quo Arrangement The Temple Mount / Noble Sanctuary in Jerusalem is the holiest site in Judaism and third holiest in Islam. Two Jewish Temples have stood on the site, which is believed to be the place where Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac. It has served as a major symbol of Jewish identity towards where Jews have prayed throughout the millennia. Muslims, who refer to Jerusalem as “al-Quds” (the holy place), believe the holy…

Since 2008, there have been repeated attacks carried out by extremist Israeli Jews against Israeli Arabs and Palestinians, often in reprisal for Israeli government action against illegal settlement activity. These attacks, which are frequently labeled “price tag” incidents, target mosques, churches, Arab and Jewish homes and property, Israeli military bases and vehicles, as well as other Israeli Jews. They involve the desecration of property with anti-Arab and anti-government…

Gaza is a 25-mile long, 7-mile wide densely populated coastal strip between Israel and Egypt which is today home to approximately 1.9 million Palestinians. In ancient times, Gaza was considered a strategic area due to its central location for trade between Asia, European and North Africa. Gaza has significance for Jews, though far less than the West Bank, and is mentioned in in the books of Joshua and Judges. From biblical times until 1948, the West Bank and Gaza Strip were occupied by the…

Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the British assumed control of Palestine. In November 1917, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration, announcing its intention to facilitate the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." In 1922, the League of Nations granted Britain a mandate over Palestine which included, among other things, provisions calling for the establishment of a Jewish homeland, facilitating Jewish immigration and…

In the early 1950s, Egypt violated the terms of the Egyptian-Israeli armistice agreement and blocked Israeli ships from passing through the Suez Canal, a major international waterway. It also began to block traffic through the Straits of Tiran, a narrow passage of water linking the Israeli port of Eilat to the Red Sea. This action effectively cut off the port of Eilat -- Israel's sole outlet to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Closure of the Suez Canal and the Tiran Straits damaged Israel's trade…

History The United Nations (UN) played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Jewish State by passing UN Resolution 181 in 1947, which called for the partition of British Mandate Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. Following Israel's independence in 1948, the Jewish State became an official member-state of the international body. At the same time, the international body has a continuing history of a one-sided, hostile approach to Israel. After decades of…

The “blood libel” refers to a centuries-old false allegation that Jews murder Christians – especially Christian children – to use their blood for ritual purposes, such as an ingredient in the baking of Passover matzah (unleavened bread). It is also sometimes called the “ritual murder charge.” The blood libel dates back to the Middle Ages and has persisted despite Jewish denials and official repudiations by the Catholic Church and many secular authorities…

When Jews began arriving in Palestine en masse in the late 19th century, the land had an Arab presence. The number of Arabs in Palestine at the time and questions surrounding when many of the Arabs came to the land remain the subject of dispute among historians. The early Zionist pioneers saw the Arab population as small, apolitical and without a nationalist element and they therefore believed that there would not be friction between the two communities. They also thought that development of…