HISTORY 244 Lecture Notes - Ashkenazi Jews, Zionism, Gambling
Outline: Israel Turns Right and the First Intifada
I. Overview: Likud's Ambitions
● Labor govt adopted a land for peace policy
○ Israel would give up most of their land and arabs would recognize israel
● Optimist hoped that the end of the conflict might actually be in sight
● 2 factors
○ Plo replaced jordan and conservative west bank leaders
○ Plo was opposed to compromise
○ Plos approach wanted approval from jewish states
○ Second development
■ Bc they were convinced that they could find no peace partner, in 77 israeli
voters replaced right wing with likud
● Likud enforced its power with will
● Israel invaded lebanon with hope of ridding plo
● Also tried to absorb west bank into what was known as greater
israel
○ In the end both of these likud projects failed
■ Israel forced to leave lebanon
■ West bank uprising against israeli control
■
II. War and Peace with Egypt, 1970-1979
● Nasser has a heart attack and dies in 1970
● Realizes egypt isn't strong enough to destroy israel
● Sadat also decided that egypt is better w allying itself with united states than soviet
union
● Soviets could give them advanced weapons but only US had the money and power to
revamp the egyptian economy
● US had better relation with israel so they could mediate better
● 1967- israeli and egyptian faced each other on suez canal
○ Barrages and arial fighting
○ Casualties more heavily taken by israel
○ Sadat realized this and planned to increase israel's war weariness by seizing and
holding the suez canal which would exhaust israeli patience and make US to use
their influence on israel to negotiate the conflict
● America was happy to play along
● Sadat's plan was brilliant
○ At first it worked exactly as he intended
○ Launched surprise attack on october 6 1972 (yom kippur)
■ Taken off guard
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■ East bank of canal
■ Enlists syria to attack israel at golan heights so it is a two front war
■ Close coordination between egypt and syria
● Israel did not know what was going on at first
● Misled by egyptian agent who was feeding them false info
● Egyptian and syrian attack took israel totally by surprise
○ Reserves were not mobilized
○ Thin line at canal
○ Syrian troops would break into israel from the golan
■ Very small israeli forces fighting desperately
■ 6 israeli tanks facing 60 arab tanks until they could get reinforcements
● Once israel's reserves were mobilized they were able to turn the tide
● Within days they reversed the situation in the golan heights and in the sinai they
succeeded in stopping the third army
○ Forced to take cease fire
● This was a turning point because the army record was nixed
● Forced both sides to confront the armies strengths and weaknesses
● Egyptians restored a sense of honor because their army was doing great in the
beginning
● Israel's almost annihilation of the third army showed they could take them
● Rude awakening for israel- the yom kippur war threatened israel's very existence.
● Under jimmy carter, 74-79 negotiations lead israel to withdraw in stages from all of the
peninsula
● Egypt recognized israel and opened suez canal and gulf of aqaba
●
III. Israel Moves Right: The Earthquake Election of 1977
● Peace treaty was most dramatic breakthrough
● This agreement would have revived hopes for a general peace accord
● Chief beneficiary was right wing likud party
● 74 gave all israelis a tremendous scare
● Many people no longer trusted labor to protect them
● Labor had big intelligence failure
● Many israelis lost confidence in labors push towards peace
● No arab states supported egypts policy
● The arab league suspended egyptian membership, moved the headquarters away from
cairo
● PLO is riding high and is enjoying increased support throughout the world
● Concluded likud approach was better
● UN declaration that said zionism was a form of racism only deepened the conviction of
most israeli that much of the world was hostile
● Within egypt people became disillusioned with the peace treaty
● The peace deal played into the hands of islamists
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Document Summary
Outline: israel turns right and the first intifada: overview: likud"s ambitions. Labor govt adopted a land for peace policy. Israel would give up most of their land and arabs would recognize israel. Optimist hoped that the end of the conflict might actually be in sight. Plo replaced jordan and conservative west bank leaders. Plos approach wanted approval from jewish states. Bc they were convinced that they could find no peace partner, in 77 israeli voters replaced right wing with likud. Israel invaded lebanon with hope of ridding plo. Also tried to absorb west bank into what was known as greater israel. In the end both of these likud projects failed. Nasser has a heart attack and dies in 1970. Realizes egypt isn"t strong enough to destroy israel. Sadat also decided that egypt is better w allying itself with united states than soviet union.
