Arabs and isreal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Arabs and isreal - Essay Example (Citron,25) This conflict has a religious background also as Israelis believe that this land was promised to them by God and have divine right to live and rule in this land. They consider this as their divine right because it was promised to them in Hebrew Bible. Muslims also consider this region as sacred because not only Muhammad stayed at Jerusalem on his night’s journey but they also believe that this land belongs to all children of Abraham and not to the children of his eldest Son Isaac only. Similarly, Christians also have religious reverence for the place and tend to accept the right of Jews to live and rule this land. Christians also view the return of Jews to this land as one of the important signs of Second Coming of Jesus Christ. All three major religions of the world therefore view this region as their own because this region is the center from where Judaism, Christianity and Islam emerged. There have been four large scale wars between Arabs and Israel on this issue including 1948 War of Independence, 1956 Sinai War, 1967 Six Day war and 1973 Yom Kippur War. All the wars resulted into damage to both the sides however, further complicated the overall relationships between various Arab States and Israel. As a result of 1948 war, Israel was also able to capture areas beyond its mandated boundaries and further demarcation in the land took place with Gaza Strip being controlled by Egypt and West Bank by Jordan. Many Arab States including Egypt and Jordan signed peace treaties with Israel. Peace treaty between Egypt and Israel was signed in 1979 whereas Jordan entered into a similar agreement in 1994 to end the conflict and hostilities while at the same time agreeing to resolve other issues. Israel’s relationships with other countries including Iraq and Iran however, remained volatile as Iraq attacked Israel during Gulf War in 1990s. Iran is also believed to be supporting Hezbollah and Hammas, the groups directly engaged with Israel in