In August 1962, Kennedy overturned the previous decade of U.S. policy toward Israel (which stated the U.S. and European powers would support it, but not instigate an arms race). In 1973, during the Jewish holiday of the Yom Kippur , the Arabs attacked Israel, and although they do important territorial readers, but 10 days later the Israelites regain the occupied territories. Keep up-to-date on: © 2020 Smithsonian Magazine. Cookie Policy During World War II, Egypt's army grew to about 100,000 troops. The two Western countries feared Egyptian President Nasser might deny their shipments of oil in the future. Whatever the leaders of Egypt and the Soviet Union may have been thinking, their actions caused acute terror in Israel. Most of the territory Israel had won has stayed occupied, and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian territories today seems as intractable as ever. Which brings us to May 1967, when the U.S.S.R. provided faulty intelligence to Nasser that Israel was assembling troops on Syria’s border. Give a Gift. They planted landmines, bombed water pumps, engaged in highway skirmishes, and killed 11 Israelis. Terms of Use In another first, the Supreme Military Council hosted an official Hamas delegation in Cairo. 162 of 1958 sharply circumscribes any non-governmental political activity. And for Palestinians and Israelis alike, those settlement shave meant terrorism, counterattacks, checkpoints and ongoing hostility. “I think in retrospect, Nasser wanted an international crisis,” Popp says. After World War II, the tension between communist and democratic forms of government strained relations between the Soviet Union and the United States and provided the ideological underpinnings of the Cold War. Under the terms of the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936, British troops remained in the country to defend the Suez Canal." Emergency Law No. Israeli fighter planes could penetrate deep into Syrian and Egyptian airspace without being challenged.”. “This gave it strategic advantages such as the ability to choke off oil supplies to the West and threaten NATO’s ‘soft underbelly’ in Southern Europe,” say Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez, both associate fellows of the Truman Institute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and authors of Foxbats Over Dimona and The Soviet-Israeli War, 1967-1973. Meanwhile, the U.S. remained convinced that Nasser had no real intention of attacking. “A war that must be won, a victory that results in consuming misery and instability.”, Lorraine Boissoneault is a contributing writer to SmithsonianMag.com covering history and archaeology. “Rabbis were consecrating parks as cemeteries, and thousands of graves were dug,” writes David Remnick in The New Yorker. The most significant changes are to be found elsewhere—in Egypt’s surprisingly sharp shifts on foreign affairs. Privacy Statement What mattered was that history had showed the Israelis were hellbent on punishing Syria. While a humanitarian concern may have played a role in Kennedy’s decision, the larger world context was also critical: the U.S. needed a regional ally for the Arab-Israeli conflict, which was transforming into another Cold War stage where allies might mean access to oil. Today about 600,000 Israelis—10 percent of the nation’s Jewish citizens—live in settlements beyond the country’s 1967 borders. Supported by Britain and France, Israel retaliated in October by invading Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. “Our judgment is that no military attack on Israel is imminent, and, moreover, if Israel is attacked, our judgment is that the Israelis would lick them,” Johnson said. The Cold War made Egypt turn to the Soviet Union for most of the time period, since Israel was backed by Britain and France, and later, America. “If Israel achieved a nuclear counter-deterrent, it would prevent the U.S.S.R. from using its nuclear clout to back up its Arab clients, and thus might destroy the Soviets’ regional influence,” Ginor and Remez said by email. The Soviet Union continued its close relationship with Egypt after the Suez Crisis, working to establish itself as a power in the region. The little nation had quadrupled its territory in a week. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Academia.edu is a platform for academics to share research papers. Israel wasn’t just the site of regional disputes—it was a Cold War satellite, wrapped up in the interests of the Soviets and the Americans. But you have to understand, the Israelis just won a huge military victory. Nothing is more hurtful to strategic foresight than a huge victory. She is also the author of The Last Voyageurs: Retracing La Salle's Journey Across America. Advertising Notice As seen in the video above, it was extended for two more years on May 11, 2010. These tensions almost boiled over into full on conflict several times, especially as nuclear arms proliferation and testing advanced rapidly during the late 1950s and The Arabs weren’t capable of militarily containing Israel anymore. The next year, Britain and the U.S. withdrew financing for Egypt’s Aswan High Dam project over the country’s ties with the U.S.S.R. That move triggered the Suez Crisis of 1956, in which Egypt, with the support of the USSR, nationalized the Suez Canal, which had previously been controlled by French and British interests. “There was a good chance [after the war] to find some kind of deal. He became the first president to sell a major weapon system to Israel; the Hawk anti-aircraft missile was to be the first in a long line of military supplies Israel received from the U.S. (next up was the A-4 Skyhawk aircraft and M48A3 tanks, approved for sale by the Johnson administration). In 1970, the new President of Egypt, Anuar Sadat decided to prepare a war against Israel with Syria and the PLO, since it refused to return to Palestinian territories occupied in the 6-day war. Guidance for the Brookings community and the public on our response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) », Learn more from Brookings scholars about the global response to coronavirus (COVID-19) ». Wait for the enemy to attack and potentially destroy their nation, having not yet made it to its 20th year? Photographs From the Last Quiet Places on Earth. Israel has fought one battle after another, clinging to survival in the decades after its people were systematically murdered during the Holocaust. Fourteen Jordanians died. Restrictions on freedom of people to gather, Arrest suspects or people who pose a danger, Arrest and search people and places without restrictions, Control communications, newspapers, publications, and all means of expression prior to publications, and seize and shut down places of printing, Seize any property and impose security on companies and institutions, and postpone debts and obligations for what is seized or imposed by the government, Evacuate regions or cut-off transportation between areas. Meanwhile, the new foreign minister, Nabil al-Araby, has been talking tough, saying that Israel will no longer get “special treatment” and that Egypt must “hold Israel accountable when it does not respect its obligations.”. Revolutions have consequences, but not always where you might expect. The U.S.S.R. wasn’t the only Cold War power with an eye on the Arab-Israeli situation. But Kennedy wasn’t just inserting himself into Arab affairs—he was also working to earn the trust of Israel. She has previously written for The Atlantic, Salon, Nautilus and others. In the 70 years since the United Nations General Assembly approved a plan to divide British Palestine in two—a Jewish state and an Arab one—the region of modern-day Israel has been repeatedly beset by violence. The combined diplomacy of the U.N. and the Eisenhower administration in the United States brought the conflict to a conclusion, with Israel agreeing to return the territory it had captured and Egypt stopped the blockade. It meant a more polarized Middle East, and that polarization meant a window of opportunity for the Soviet Union. Just ten years after the conclusion of the Suez Crisis, violence was again becoming a regular element of the region. At this point the U.S. has given more than $120 billion to Israel since the Six-Day War, reports Nathan Thrall, and Israel receives more military assistance from the U.S. than from the rest of the world combined. They didn’t feel any need whatsoever to compromise.”. This may be true, but the line between domestic and foreign policy can often be quite blurry—gone underreported was the fact that many anti-Mubarak chants accused him of being, among other things, an Israeli agent and a Hebrew speaker. In rapid succession, Egypt announced it would open a “new page” in its ties with Iran, review its gas deals with Israel, and welcome contacts with Hezbollah to boot. The attack resulted in the destruction of more than 100 houses, a school, a post office, a library and a medical clinic. or Britain maintained a strong influence.. and provided it with equipment, instruction, and technicians. 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