The Arab-Israeli war in 1948 held unpleasant experiences for Arab states in the Middle East, as much as it did for the Palestinians. It brought about the beginning of a mass movement of Palestinians from Palestine to Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. Further, the creation of the State of Israel in an Arab state evoked anger in the populations of all of the Arab states, which threatened to political leaders in those states.
The United Nations Partition Plan of 1947 divided Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state. Galilee was also to be divided in half; however, the Jews (later to become Israelis) were not satisfied with this arrangement, and seized both halves of Galilee.
The division of Palestine alone was sufficient to cause a mass migration of Arab Palestinians. The Jewish seizure of western Galilee added to the exodus. By the end of the 1948 war, 800,000 Palestinians had fled their country. The Arab states in the Middle East refused to acknowledge the existence of the State of Israel. Over the following 20 years, several wars erupted between Israel and the Arab states.
During all of this time, the Palestinians outside of Palestine attacked Israeli interest through the use of guerilla tactics (most frequently referred to as terrorist actions today). Within Palestine, there were constant frictions between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
During the Six-Day War, Israel occupied (and remained in occupation subsequent to the end of the war) the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem immediately upon conclusion of the Six-Day War. Much later, in 1981, Israel annexed the Golan Heights. As Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin traded land-for-peace in negotiations with Egypt through the Camp David Accords ยท the Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in trade for a guarantee of peace between Israel and Egypt. At the same ...