What was the main cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict?

Answer 1

There are two ways to read this question: 1) What are the historical circumstances that lead to this conflict? 2) Why are people attempting to resolve these differences with bloodshed?

1) The historical circumstances are very long and complex. The simple version is that Jews were attempting to return to a land (the British Mandate of Palestine) from which they had been exiled 2000 years earlier. In the interim, Arab Palestinians had settled the land. The return of these Jews and their intent to create a Jewish State angered the Arab residents. As a result, there was a conflict of interest: two different groups both wanting to build a nation on the same territory.

2) The Jews believe in their Right to a State with such tenaciousness (like most other peoples) that they will defend it to the death. The Arabs are unwilling to concede the viability of such a Jewish State and how it has dispossessed the Palestinian population and therefore fight to death to reclaim it.

Answer 2

Answer 1

Though it is a very complex issue the conflict essentially comes down to the problem of Israeli occupation of the British Mandate of Palestine where Arabs had been living for centuries. In the last years of the Ottoman Empire many Jewish people who were being persecuted in Europe sought to create a country of Israel and so bought land from the Ottoman rulers of what was then known as Palestine. This itself was a contentious issue within Judaism as there was, and to some extent still is, debate as to 1) where Israel should be, 2) whether a Jewish state is legitimate without the Messiah. This purchase of land, although permitted by Ottomans is considered illegitimate by many Arabs since the land being sold was owned by Arabs and not Ottoman Turks.

Over the next few decades many more Jewish people arrived in Palestine, largely due to their persecution in Europe climaxing with the rise of Nazism in Germany and the Holocaust. By this stage the former Ottoman territories had been divided up between the allied powers of the First World War, notably Britain and France, in the Sykes-Picot Agreement with Britain having control of Palestine. As there was a push to create a state of Israel the British introduced the Balfour declaration which stated the intention to create a national homeland for the Jewish people; this was opposed by the local Arab population who were loosing a great deal of their land.

Arabs openly refused further Jewish immigration because the balance both of population and land ownership was beginning to swing to the Jewish immigrants. This conflict between the Jews wanting to establish a Jewish State and the Arabs wanting an Arab State (each with minimal presence of the other) resulted in the 1947 UN Partition Plan. Both sides were disappointed by the plan as they each desired the lion's share of the territory. The Jews, however, were anxious to receive a State in light of the remaining Jewish refugees in post-Holocaust Europe, and accepted the proposal. The Arabs, counting both on their numbers and neighbours openly rejected the proposal believing that a Jewish State should not exist. The UN Proposal was accepted by a General Assembly vote by a two-thirds majority and this prompted the establishment of the State of Israel. Palestinians refused to make a similar declaration as that would infer that the Jewish State had any legitimacy.

During the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9, many Palestinian people, Muslims, Christians, and Druze were expelled from the territory of Israel. In addition, many fled due to the possibility of attack and/or being encouraged to do so by their own leadership which claimed that Israel's destruction was imminent and that they could resettle later. These three reasons resulted in many Arabs fleeing to neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the West Bank and Gaza. Estimates put this number at around 700,000 individuals. Similarly in the Arab World, massive numbers of Jews fled the Arab States to Israel from 1950-1955 because of anti-Semitic persecution (at its most extreme) to second-class citizenry (at its least extreme). Estimates put the number of fleeing Jews at around 850,000 individuals (of which 500,000 immigrated to Israel).

Following the War of 1948-9, Jordan and Egypt occupied the West Bank and Gaza respectively as Israel, preventing those regions from declaring Statehood. In addition, there was still the atmosphere that Israel had just won the first round but that it would not be lucky in the next engagement. Leaders like Nasser made Ahmadinejad-type threats about wiping Israel off the map and when Israel would be destroyed, Palestine would come into existence. However, following subsequent wars between Israel and its Arab neighbours Israel gained control of the territories of the West Bank, Golan, Gaza and Sinai.

As concerns many Palestinians, this meant they came under the control of the Israeli state primarily through military administration. As a corollary there continued to be settlement of Jewish communities in areas originally set aside for Palestinian people, mainly Gaza and the West Bank, which is in contravention of a range of international laws. The issue of settlement is a divisive one in Israel as many see the settlers as the primary source of the tensions between Palestinians and Israel, with the "settlers" as a small minority of the Israeli population.

Additionally many Israelis feel threatened by statements and actions of many Palestinian and Arab governments that essentially call for the destruction of Israel and the return of the entire territory to the Palestinian people who lost their homeland with the creation of a Jewish homeland. To further the cause of Palestinian nationalism various groups, both political and paramilitary, ordinarily a combination of the two, operate to destabilise Israel by attacking Israeli military and terrorist attacks on the Israeli civilian population. In retaliation the Israeli military caries out what could arguably be called terrorist attacks on the Palestinian population; and exacerbating this is the ever present militaristic/terrorist actions of many of the Israeli settler populations.

They are killing each other over religion and who should own parts of the Holy Land. It's sort or ironic seeing that most religions teach love and peace. The state of Israel was formed in 1948 and disastrously located exactly on the land that the Palestinians claim. This was not a popular in the Arab community which was not receptive to the idea of a Jewish State and continues to display animosity towards the idea that the solution of the conflict will require a Jewish State. Conversely, a number of religious Jews who have a stranglehold on Israeli politics refuse to admit that Palestinians are people deserving of any territory that Israeli currently occupies.

Answer 2

There were various groups of people inhabiting the middle east of various religions. Some were followers of the family descended from Abraham and his wife Sarah (his son Isaac's family - the Jews) and the followers of the family descended from Abraham and his slave Hagar and her son Ishmael (the Muslims).

Both groups have occupied the area now called Israel at various times in history. Both groups have major religious ties to various sites in this area.

The Jews had been strung out all over the world for many years never having their own homeland. During WWII ....hold on. Use the link below as a reference instead of me having to type it all from memory; No need to re-invent the wheel.

After World War II, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon all declared their independence from Great Britain and began setting up independent nations. The British protectorate of Palestine, with a majority Arab population and a growing Jewish minority (largely Holocaust survivors), also began agitating. In 1948, Britain washed its hands of the troubled region and handed the problem over to the United Nations.

The United Nations divided Palestine into Arab and Jewish sections; the Jewish portion held elections and declared itself the nation of Israel in 1948. Israel was, however, stuck in the midst of a bunch of Muslim-majority lands, most of whom have steadfastly refused to accept its existence. Its neighbors almost immediately declared war on it and invaded. With U.S. aid, the Israelis not only drove back the invasion, they seized a good chuck of new land, enlarging their country by 1/3. Thousands of Arab refugees who had fled their homes during the first Arab-Israeli war were denied re-entry into Israel; they ended up in squalid refugee camps in neighboring states, where they and their children have been ever since.

In 1967, during the Six-Day War, another conflict with their neighbors (also started by the Arab states), Israel further enlarged its territories, seizing the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza strip, and the West Bank of Jordan, including East Jerusalem, and Syria's Golan Heights. All of these territories have been trouble spots ever since.

During Jimmy Carter's administration in the 1970s, Carter succeeded in brokering a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, so that Egypt, formerly a leader among Israel's enemies, came to recognize the state's existence. Most of the other Arab nations, however, continue to hate the state. They also want their territory back, and the refugees (who are in their territories) relocated back to Israel. In 1987, the Palestinians declared an intifada (uprising) against the state of Israel, fighting for autonomy for the Gaza strip and West Bank, which are largely Arab. In 1993, some autonomy was granted to the West Bank, but the situation has hardened since then. In 1995, the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a hard-line Jew angered by his conciliatory approach. Since 1998, Israeli politics have moved rightward, and the Palestinians have likewise dug in their heels. The peace talks appear to be stalled

Answer 3

It all started many years ago when Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation and the Arab nation, had two sons. God promised Abraham he would have a son even at he and Sarah his wife's old age. Abraham did not trust God and had a child, Ishmael, by Sarah's handmaiden, Hagar. Sarah his wife conceived and had Isaac, the son of promise, contrary to what the Koran teaches. Ever since that time there has been animosity and jealousy between them. One of the great lies in modern times is that the Israelis are in "occupied" land. They own it, and have owned it for many years legally not even taking into account that God gave them The Land. There are no Palestinian people. They are Arabs living in Palestine. Look at modern history. The lie has been perpetuated for so long people believe it as truth. It only takes a generation. It's not about land anyway. The Arabs won't be happy till every single Jew is wiped out. Truth is, the overwhelming odds with Iran, Russia, and all the other Muslim countries coming against Israel, they lose.

Answer 4

The terrorists (Al-Qaeda, Taliban etc.) want to kill Jews as the Islamic holy scripture, the Qur'an (also spelled Koran) has many chapters about killing Infidels (Jews).

Answer 5

The Arabs however want land. I read in The Economist that many Arabs are not Anti-Jew, they want Israel's land, they like Jews. It's just if Jews keep the land, then they attack

Answer 6

Palestinians and their Muslim States wanting to eliminate a Member of UN, namely Israel.

That is ALL the reason.

As the OFFICIAL history fact will show Palestinian Arabs were offered a country in 1947 alongside Israel, and they refused, instead they attacked the new Jewish country wanting to eliminate it and they are at it AGAIN until today.

Answer 7

There is conflict between Israel and the other Arab nations, especially with the unrecognized Palestinian Territories. This is because Israel occupies the area known as Palestine, which is known as the 'Holy Land'. It is a place of great historical influence for Muslims, as well as Jews and Christians. Arab countries also dislike Israel for its conflicts with the Palestinian Territories, as the two have been fighting an aggressive war. Israel has a specific military strategy of going to war and completely demolishing the enemy, which means they use immensely aggressive attacks, and they have used these attacks against Palestinians. However, Palestinians have also been aggressive towards the Israelis.

Answer 3

There are a number of reasons that are certainly the cause of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Therefore, among these there is no "more likely" reason. Please see the Related Question below which discusses all of the reasons for the continuing conflicts.

(The same logic would come up if someone asks "What is the most likely primary color present in the color 'green'?". Blue and yellow are equally valid because they are both 100% certainly part of the color green.)

Answer 4

Israel controls the Holy Land, which is not only important to Judaism, but to Islam as well (the religion of Arab countries). Palestine has expressed its desire for its own sovereignty against Israel, which has caused Israel and Palestine to have continuous conflicts. Arab countries are disliking of Israel because of these two reasons.

For more information on the various causes of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (for there are numerous causes) please see the Related Question.

Answer 5

The existence of Israel as a sovereign nation are.

Answer 6

The existence of Israel is.