The word Israel comes from the son of Abraham "Jacob or Yaqoob" who was renamed "Israel" by Hebrew God in the Bible. Israelites are the descendants of Jacob.
From 1517 till world war 1, Israel was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Ottomans were defeated in war 1, the area fell into the control of the British.
Balfour Declaration:
During the World war, foreign minister of British Balfour decided to build an independent nation for the Jews. This agreement was known as the Balfour declaration. Within jews, a Zionist movement started which demanded the formation of a new state for the Jewish community.Zionists believed that Judaism is more than a religion, its a nationality. Jews from all over the world migrated to Palestine in the hope of a new homeland. When world war 2 happened, European Jews were massacred by Nazi Germans. This genocide was later known as the Holocaust. In order to keep themselves safe, Jews from Europe flew to Palestine and came under the protection of the British. After Germans were defeated in world war 2, a significant population of Palestine consisted of Jews.
Arab-Jews Conflicts:
The conflict between Arab and Jews dates all the way back to ancient times. Jerusalem is a sacred city for both Muslims and Jews. It contains the Temple Mount, which includes the holy sites al-Aqsa Mosque, the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and more. After world war 2, Tensions between Arabs and Jews were getting severe day by day.
Israel Independence:
To find a permanent solution for the problem, the British along with the support of the United Nations decided to divide Palestine into two. One would be for the Arabs and a new state for the Jewish community which was named Israel. According to the plan Jerusalem was declared an international zone and would be under the direct control of the United Nations, as this City is equally important for the Jews and the Muslims. Obviously, this plan was accepted by the Jewish community, as they would have their own homeland after almost 1000 years. But Arabs opposed the idea, as this plan could enfeeble the identity of Arabs in Palestine.
When this idea was proposed in the UN, 31 countries opposed, still this did not affect the results. Israelites declared independence as the state of Israel.
Arab-Israel war 1948:
Arab countries made a union and decided to wage a war against Israel. Arabs union included Jordon, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. Surprisingly Israel turned victorious by defeating the union. When the war was started the Arab Union had an upper hand over Israel Army, but the United Nations security council intervened and announced a ceasefire for five weeks. Israel took the opportunity and imported military weapons from Mexico and strengthen its strategic position. When the ceasefire ended, Israel Army fought at three different fronts and eventually succeeded in capturing more land than previously allocated by the united nations.
Arab union signed an armistice with Israel, Under this armistice agreement, a new line was demarcated between Israel and its neighbor which was known as Green Line. West bank became a part of Jordon and Gaza Strip became annexed with Egyptian territory.
Suez Crisis:
Suez Canal is a waterway that connects the red sea with the Meditarian Sea. Suez canal defines the boundary between Asia and Africa. With this canal, the distance between London and the Arabian sea reduces by 9000-kilometers. Until 1956, the Suez canal was controlled by France and Britain. In 1956 president of Egypt, captured the canal and nationalized it. Israel with the help of Britain and France tried to recapture the canal by force. After the fighting had started, political pressure from the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Nations led to a withdrawal by the three invaders. The episode humiliated the United Kingdom and France and strengthened Nasser.
Arab-Israel war 1967 (6 days war):
Another war broke out between Arab and Israel. The war lasted for six days only. Initially, Egypt and Syria were able to capture a significant land of Israel. The United States came to rescue Israel. Within a short period, Israel was able to capture the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip from Egypt, Golan height from Syria, and the west bank from Jordon. Israel was now occupying Palestine, including all of Jerusalem and its holy sites. These areas were considered as illegal occupation by Israel.
Israel Settlements in Palestine:
After capturing the west bank and the Gaza strip, the Israel government motivated its citizen to shift to west bank to convert it into a Jewish majority area. Israel Government announced special subsidies for the settlers. The Israeli housing ministry developed a plan on how to develop the west bank. United nations condemned the settlement of Israel in the west bank. Despite the international condemnation, more settlers moved to West bank.
Yom Kippur War / Egyptian peace with Israel:
To recapture the land occupied by Israel, Egypt and Syria carried out a joint war against Israel on the holy day of Jews YOM KIPPUR. The war was to capture the Sinai peninsula and Golan height. The United States supported Israel and supplied weapons to it. As a response, Member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC proclaimed an oil embargo against the state which were supporting Israel, which simply means that cut their oil supplies to supporters of Israel. This led to a massive 400 percent increase in oil prices in the united states. Their aim was to pull back Israel from the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. All this went in vain. So in 1979, Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel. According to treaty, the Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt. The Egypt–Israel treaty was signed by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and witnessed by United States president Jimmy Carter.
First Palestinian Intifada
Intifada in English means "Uprising".In 1987 protests against Israel Settlements by Palestinian Liberation Organization gained momentum. Hundred of Palestinians were killed during the uprising. Due to violence and condemnation by the international community a peace agreement, known as the Oslo Peace Accords signed between Israel Prime minister yitzhak rabin and the Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yassir Arafat. This agreement divides the west bank into three sections,
Section 1 would be under the direct control of Palestinian liberation organization
Section 2 would be under Israel control
Section 3 would be controlled by the Palestinian government but the security would be managed by Israeli forces
Second Palestinian Intifada
Another Intifada was launched in 2000 in the Gaza strip. This time it was more violent than the first one. Palestinians launched suicide bombs and other attacks on Israelis in 2000. The resulting violence lasted for years until a cease-fire was reached. Israel announced a plan to remove all troops and Jewish settlements from the Gaza strip by the end of 2005.
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