The First Arab-Israeli War

Since the United Nations partition of PALESTINE in 1947 and the establishment of the modern state of ISRAEL in 1948, there have been four major Arab-Israeli wars (1947-49, 1956, 1967, and 1973) and numerous intermittent battles. Although Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979, hostility between Israel and the rest of its Arab neighbors, complicated by the demands of Palestinian Arabs, continued into the 1980s.<br><br><b>THE FIRST PALESTINE WAR (1947-49)</b><br>The first war began as a civil conflict between Palestinian Jews and Arabs following the United Nations recommendation of Nov. 29, 1947, to partition Palestine, then still under British mandate, into an Arab state and a Jewish state. Fighting quickly spread as Arab guerrillas attacked Jewish settlements and communication links to prevent implementation
By December 22 the last British and French troops had left Egypt. Israel, however, delayed withdrawal, insisting that it receive security guarantees against further Egyptian attack. After several additional UN resolutions calling for withdrawal and after pressure from the United States, Israel's forces left in March 1957.<br><br><b>SIX-DAY WAR (1967)</b><br>Relations between Israel and Egypt remained fairly stable in the following decade. The Suez Canal remained closed to Israeli shipping, the Arab boycott of Israel was maintained, and periodic border clashes occurred between Israel, Syria, and Jordan. However, UNEF prevented direct military encounters between Egypt and Israel.<br><br>By 1967 the Arab confrontation states-Egypt, Syria, and Jordan-became impatient with the status quo, the propaganda war with Israel escalated, and border incidents increased dangerously. Tensions culminated in May when Egyptian forces were massed in Sinai, and Cairo ordered the UNEF to leave Sinai and