• To emphasize Israel’s willingness to compromise for peace from 1937 to 2000.
• To point out the number of times Israel has withdrawn from captured territory and from territory it could legitimately claim (such as the four communities in the West Bank).
• To emphasize the dates and terms of Israel’s peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt. |
1. Review the history of peace efforts between 1937 and 2006. What patterns do you notice? What generaliza-
tions can you make about Israel’s and Arab states’ willingness to compromise, and about what main factors make peace agreements possible? (Read the brief description for each peace/compromise initiative and review “Evolution of the Region” and “Wars and Terrorism” pages to help draw some conclusions.)
Note to teachers: Israel was willing to compromise on land issues. The peace agreements were based on bilateral negotiations, and both President Sadat and King Hussein were willing to come to Israel.
2. If you were a nation that had faced the wars and terrorism that Israel has faced, what would be your main priorities for a peace agreement? Given what you learned about Israel’s geographic position (see introductory map pages), what do you think Israel’s bottom lines would be for any peace agreements?
3. After reviewing the various peace initiatives, do you think Israel could have done more to bring about peace with its neighbors, and if so, what could it have done?
4. In the Israel-Egypt and Israel-Jordan peace agreements, what did Israel cede and what did Jordan and Egypt cede?
5. In 1947, the United Nations recommended a two-state solution: a Jewish state and a Palestinian Arab state.
The Jews accepted this recommendation, but the Arab states rejected it and the very idea of a Jewish state.
In recent years, various diplomatic initiatives have been promoted to implement the two-state solution.
Compare these two situations, in terms of Israeli and Arab readiness for compromise, international support for the initiative, and other factors. What, if anything, has changed since 1947?
6. In 1957, after the Sinai War, Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula. In 2000, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Southern Lebanon. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza. In each case, what response did Israel expect? What was the actual response? Based on these three examples, what are the advantages and disadvantages of withdrawal from Israel’s point of view?
7. What forms of war or enmity did Arab/Muslim states in the region use against Israel? How have they changed since the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan?
Note to teachers: The following forms of war were used against Israel: (a) states of war, (b) economic boycotts (secondary and tertiary), (c) diplomatic pressure, (d) exclusion from regional groupings, e.g. in the U.N., and (e) propaganda against Israel. Since the peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, there have been no major wars between Arab states and Israel. Subsequent wars have been launched by non-state terrorist groups who get support from Arab states that are still in a technical state of war against Israel. Jordan also ended its state of war with Israel in 1994. The degrees of change for the other forms of war are debatable; they should be researched and discussed by the students.
8. What political parties were in power when Israel signed its peace agreements? What does this tell us about
Israeli views on peace?
Note to teachers: The right-wing Herut Party, led by Menachem Begin, signed the peace agreement with Egypt. The left-wing Labor Party, led by Yitzchak Rabin, signed the peace agreement with Jordan. Israeli political parties across the political spectrum have sought peace. |
