Transcript Israel Seminar - American Jewish Committee

From IKAR – Israel Knowledge, Advocacy and
Responsibility: A program for high school students
(Slide 1)
Israel Seminar
Outline:
(1) Understanding Contemporary Arab-Israel Politics: Lebanon, Syria,
Palestinian Track
(1982-2000)
30 min.
(2) Understanding Contemporary Arab-Israel Politics: Lebanon, Syria,
Palestinian Track
(2001-present)
20 min.
(3) The War in Lebanon
(July-August 2006)
20 min.
Part I
Understanding Contemporary
Arab-Israel Politics: Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian Track
(1982-2000)
2
Israel and its Neighbors
As the map on
the right
shows, Israel is
a small country
surrounded by
sometimes
hostile
countries, in a
volatile region.
Source: CIA World Factbook
3
A Look Back
On the left, is a
map of Israel in
1949, after the
1948 War of
Independence.
On the right, is a
map of Israel in
1967, after the SixDay War. Circled
in blue are the
areas Israel
conquered in that
war.
4
Lebanon, Round I (1978, 1982-2000)
The late 1970s and
early 1980s were a
violent period along
the Israel-Lebanon
border. Israel
launched its first
major ground
operation into
southern Lebanon in
1978, following the
Coastal Road
Massacre, an attack
by Lebanon-based
PLO terrorists that
killed and wounded
dozens of civilians.
After the PLO
expanded its attacks to
include indiscriminate
shelling of Israel’s
north, Israel launched
a massive ground
invasion of southern
Lebanon in 1982,
routing the PLO to
Tunisia. Until 2000,
Israel maintained a
security belt (left)
inside Lebanon to
prevent Islamist
militias from
infiltrating the area
and threatening the
north.
5
Israel’s Withdrawal from Lebanon
(May 2000)
On May 24, 2000, Israel
completed the
withdrawal of its forces
from southern Lebanon
in accordance with UN
Security Council
Resolution 425, ending
a 22-year presence in
southern Lebanon. The
dotted line highlights
the so-called “Blue
Line,” the border
behind which Israel
withdrew.
Source: CIA World Factbook
6
Shebaa Farms
Lebanon now lays
claim to the Shebaa
Farms, a 10 squaremile, largely
uninhabited patch
of 14 farmlands on
the western slopes
of Mount Hermon.
However,
Israel captured it
from Syria, not
Lebanon, in 1967.
The UN considers
the area to be
Source: CIA World Factbook
Syrian territory.
The Shebaa Farms are a constant issue for
Source: Israeli Foreign Ministry
Hezbollah, which uses Israel’s control of the
territory as a continued justification for its terrorist
activity against Israel.
7
The Israeli-Syrian Peace Track
Copyright 2004 the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Reprinted with permission.
In August 1992, the Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin conveyed to
Syrian President Hafez Assad that
Israel would withdraw from the Golan
Heights in exchange for peace and full
normalization with Syria. Negotiations
between Israel and Syria over the
duration of the decade revealed that
the parties disagreed about the
meaning of “full withdrawal.” In
March 2000, Syria rejected an Israeli
offer that would have left Israel in
8
control of the Sea of Galilee and the
Jordan River.
The Oslo Accords (1993)
“We have come from an
anguished and grieving land.
We have come from a people, a
home, a family, that has not
known a single year not a single
month in which mothers have
not wept for their sons. We have
come to try and put an end to
the hostilities, so that our
children, our children's children,
will no longer experience the
painful cost of war, violence and
terror. We have come to secure
their lives and to ease the
sorrow and the painful
memories of the past to hope
and pray for peace.”
--Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
On September 13, 1993, Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO
Chairman Yasser Arafat signed a
Declaration of Principles outlining a
two-step peace process – known
colloquially today as the “Oslo
Accords.” Step One: the “interim” or
“transitional” stage; Step Two: the
“permanent” or “final” stage.
9
Source: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Camp David Summit
(July 2000)
The Middle East Peace Summit at Camp
David took place with Bill Clinton, the
President of the United States, Ehud Barak,
the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yasser
Arafat, Chairman of the Palestinian
Authority, in July 2000. It was an
unsuccessful attempt to negotiate a "final
status agreement" to the conflict between
the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Credit: www.knesset.gov.il
10
The Actual
Proposal
Offered at
Camp David
With the U.S. acting as a
mediator for intense back-andforth between the Israeli and
Palestinian negotiating teams,
Barak agreed to a deal, the major
points of which were:
•A Palestinian state on the Gaza
Strip and 91% of the West Bank
•Palestinian sovereignty over the
Muslim and Christian Quarters
of Jerusalem’s Old City
•Palestinian custodianship over
the Haram al-Sharif/Temple
Mount
Copyright 2004 the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Reprinted with permission.
Source: Dennis Ross, The Missing Peace (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004)
Arafat rejected the deal.
11
The Palestinians’
Inaccurate
Interpretation of the
Israeli Proposal at
Camp David
“This map reflects a map proposed
by the Israelis early at Camp David,
but it inaccurately depicts Israeli
security zones carving the West
Bank into three cantons, and
includes Israeli settlements in the
proposed Palestinian state.
Palestinian officials now cite this
map as the final offer they turned
down at Camp David…This map
shows that state comprising only
83% of that territory.” The Israeli
offer was to withdraw from 91% of
the West Bank, allowing for much
greater contiguity therein.
Copyright 2004 the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Reprinted with permission.
12
The “Clinton Ideas” (Dec. 2000)
Despite Arafat’s rejection of the U.S.-Israeli
offer at Camp David, peacemaking efforts
continued up until the last days of the
Clinton Administration. Clinton
attempted to address the needs of both
sides, and the contours of the “Clinton
Ideas,” presented to both parties, were as
follows:
•A Palestinian state on 94-96% of the West
Bank and the entire Gaza Strip
•An Israeli military presence in the Jordan
Valley, eventually to be replaced by
international observers by mutual consent
•A limited Palestinian “right of return”
•Israeli sovereignty over the Western Wall,
and Palestinian sovereignty over the
Haram al-Sharif
Copyright 2004 the Washington Institute for Near
East Policy. Reprinted with permission.
Israel accepted the outline, the Palestinians
13
did not.
Source: The Missing Peace (2004)
Israeli-Palestinian Joint Statement after
the Taba Summit
In January 2001, with the Second Intifada already underway, Israel
and Palestinian Authority came to the Egyptian resort town of Taba
to further peace talks. The talks, ultimately unsuccessful, were based
upon the “Clinton Ideas,” and are the closest the two sides have
come to an agreement.
“The Taba talks were unprecedented in their positive atmosphere
and expression of mutual willingness to meet the national, security
and existential needs of each side....The sides declare that they have
never been closer to reaching an agreement.…the political timetable
prevented reaching an agreement on all the issues….”
“We leave Taba in a spirit of hope and mutual achievement,
acknowledging that the foundations have been laid both in
reestablishing mutual confidence and in having progressed in a
substantive engagement on all core issues.”
14
Source: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Second Intifada
(2000)
The Second Intifada has been marked by
calculated attacks against Israeli civilians,
who have been murdered while on buses,
at pizzerias, and at pedestrian malls.
(Slide 1)
Since September 2000, Palestinian terrorists
have launched thousands of attacks
against Israelis. This period is known as
the Second Intifada. The Palestinian
Authority could not, or would not, act
against the terrorists, some of whom came
from its own ranks. The suicide bombing
became the linchpin tactic of the terrorist
groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad,
and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Other
tactics have included rocket attacks,
shooting attacks, and roadside bombings.
To date, over 1,000 Israelis have been killed
and over 7,000 wounded. Thousands of
Palestinians have been killed and wounded
during Israeli security operations.
15
Part II
Understanding Contemporary
Arab-Israel Politics: Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian Track
(2001-present)
16
Palestinian Terrorism and Israel’s Response
Israel’s manifold response to
Palestinian terrorism has included
arrest raids, assassination of
terrorist leaders, attacks on PA
infrastructure, and most
prominently, the West Bank
security fence. Currently under
construction, the fence, although
incomplete, has proven highly
effective in thwarting terrorists
from carrying out attacks inside
Israel proper. The Israeli High
Court has ruled on a number of
occasions that the government
must revise the route of the fence
in order to alleviate the hardship
on ordinary Palestinians.
Copyright 2005 the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Reprinted with permission.
17
The Road Map (2003)
What is the Road Map?
Credit: www.whitehouse.gov
In June 2003, President Bush met with
the then prime ministers of the
Palestinian Authority and Israel,
Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon, in
Aqaba, Jordan, in support of the
Roadmap.
In a June 2002 Rose Garden speech,
President Bush outlined the principles
of “A Performance-Based Roadmap to a
Permanent Two-State Solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” later
called the Roadmap. The Road Map,
endorsed by the international Quartet
(U.S., Russia, E.U., and the U.N.), calls
for successive phases of bilateral steps
to be taken by Israel and the
Palestinians, eventually leading to a
provisional Palestinian state and
permanent status negotiations. While
both sides accepted the Roadmap, the
violence of the Second Intifada
continued and its parallel steps never
18
commenced.
Disengagement from Gaza, August 2005
As of August 22, 2005, the
evacuation of all Israeli civilians
from the Israeli communities in the
Gaza Strip had been completed.
Three weeks later, as of September
12, 2005, the Israeli military
officially left the Gaza Strip. The
disengagement displaced some
10,000 Israelis from their homes.
19
© Koret Communications Ltd. www.israelinsider.com/maps
Disengagement from the Northern West Bank,
August 2005
© Koret Communications Ltd.
www.israelinsider.com/maps
As of August 23, 2005, Israel
evacuated the Northern West
Bank settlements of Sanur,
Homesh, Kadim and Ganim,
shown in the highlighted
boxes on the left.
© Koret Communications Ltd.
www.israelinsider.com/maps
20
A Unilateral West Bank Withdrawal?
Until Israel’s recent
war with Hezbollah,
Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert was
proposing to
withdraw from the
West Bank, excluding
three blocs of
settlements (outlined
in purple on the
map). That proposal
is now apparently off
the table.
Copyright 2004 the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Reprinted with permission.
21
Palestinian Politics
March 2003: U.S. persuades Arafat to appoint a prime minister.
 Mahmoud Abbas named premier, resigns in October 2003.
 November 2004: Arafat dies after mysterious illness.
 January 2005: Abbas wins presidential election.
 January 2006: Hamas wins majority in parliament.
Credit: http://nobelprize.org/index.html

22
The Palestinian Stalemate
After Hamas won a majority in the Palestinian parliament
in January 2006, the Quartet refused to deal with the
Hamas-dominated Palestinian Authority until Hamas
agreed to the following three conditions:
•Recognition of Israel’s right to exist
•Renounce the use of violence
•Accept past Israeli-Palestinian agreements
23
Part III
Credit: IDF Spokesperson
A Review of the Second War in Lebanon
and its Implications
24
Hezbollah
 Meaning: Party of God
 A radical Shiite Islamist
organization formed in 1982 by Iran
in Lebanon, and supported by Syria
and Iran
 Leader: Sheikh Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah
 Following domestic and
international terror attacks, declared
a terrorist organization in 1997 by
the U.S.
 Since 2005, holds seats in Lebanese
parliament and cabinet
 Provides social welfare programs in
Lebanon
 Throughout the Arab world, it is
regarded as an anti-Israel resistance
movement.
The top of the Hezbollah flag reads:
“Then surely the party of Allah are
they that shall be triumphant”; the
bottom reads "The Islamic Resistance
25
in Lebanon.”
Who Supports Hezbollah?
Iran provides Hezbollah with:
Funding
Training
Weapons
Syria provides Hezbollah with:
Source: “Iran, Country Reports on Terrorism,” U.S. Department of State, 2005
Diplomatic support
Weapons
26
Hezbollah’s Objectives and Capabilities
• Elimination of the State of
Israel
• Establishment of an Islamic
state in Lebanon
As the graphic on the left
demonstrates, Hezbollah, on the eve of
its recent conflict with Israel, had
established a so-called “state within a
state” in Lebanon. Supplied by Iran
and Syria, Hezbollah had positioned
thousands of rockets of varying ranges
in southern Lebanon. It also had a
small guerrilla army.
27
Casus Belli
July 12, 2006
Hezbollah launches separate assaults on northern
Israel
 IDF jeeps attacked, 3 IDF soldiers killed; northern
Israeli communities shelled
 2 IDF soldiers
(Goldwasser and
Regev) kidnapped
 In rescue effort, Israeli
tank blown up, 5 IDF
Eldad Regev
Ehud Goldwasser
soldiers killed

Escalation of conflict: Israel bombs Hezbollah positions,
rocket launchers; Hezbollah shells Israel’s north 28
Source: Media reports
When the Fighting Stopped…
• 500+ Hezbollah fighters killed; 800+ Lebanese
civilians also killed, according to Lebanese claims
• Hezbollah pushed back from border positions
• Nearly 4,000 rockets fired at northern Israel
• 43 Israeli civilians killed and 119 IDF soldiers killed
• August 14, 2006: fighting is mostly suspended as a
result of the UN-brokered ceasefire
• IDF withdraws from southern Lebanon in early
October as UNIFIL forces deploy in the area
Source: Media reports
29
UN Security Council Resolution 1701
Calls for Lebanon to extend sovereignty over entire country,
Israel to withdraw forces as UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army take
over positions
Calls for the unconditional release of the kidnapped Israeli
soldiers
Establishes arms-free zone between the Blue Line and the
Litani River
Reiterates call for Hezbollah’s disarmament
Calls for embargo on arms to non-state actors
Increases UNIFIL force to 15,000
Source: UNSC Resolution 1701
30
Questions to Consider:
• Will the ceasefire hold?
• Will Israeli PM Olmert fall, or have to
change his coalition, after his handling of
the Lebanon war?
• Was Israel’s deterrence posture weakened
or strengthened by the war?
• Will Israel and Syria resume peace talks?
• Will Israel negotiate with the Palestinian
national unity government?
31