Egypt vs. Israel

1949 - 1979

Core issue: Non-recognition of Israel as an independent state by Egypt

Type of conflict ending: Peaceful thawing

The frozen conflict between Egypt and Israel began in 1949, after the end of the Arab-Israeli War. Egypt, together with other Arab states, opposed the creation of Israel on Arab lands. A war ensued which ended with an armistice agreement in 1949 freezing the conflict and laying ground for future violent escalation between both states.

With Gamal Abdel Nasser becoming president of Egypt in 1954, he nationalized the Suez Canal two years later, which led to the Suez Canal Crisis.  Israel, supported by the United Kingdom and France, invaded Egypt with the aim of regaining control over the Canal. The main impetus for Israeli engagement was the Egyptian blockade of the Strait of Tiran as well as the closure of the canal to Israeli ships. The pre-emptive attack was initially successful; Israeli troops invaded and occupied the Sinai Peninsula. However, the combined political pressure of the Soviet Union, the United States as well as the United Nations led to a withdrawal by the three invaders.

Between the Suez War and the Six-Day War, there were no clashes, mainly due to the presence of the UN peacekeeping forces on the Sinai Peninsula who monitored the ceasefire between Israel and Egypt. However, over the following decade Egypt was able to remilitarize and prepare for another war. As Nasser was pressured by the Soviets to maintain relations with Syria, he signed the Egypt-Syria Defense Agreement in 1966. Egypt then signed the Mutual Defense Pact in 1967 with Jordan. Egypt asked for the withdrawal of peacekeeping forces and once again blocked the Strait of Tiran. As a reaction, on June 5, 1967, Israeli air raids destroyed the Egyptian Air Force with a surprise attack and took control over the Sinai Peninsula. These events consequently compelled Egypt to concede a ceasefire. Egypt lost the Gaza Strip as well as the Sinai Peninsula. The UN enacted Resolution 242, which was generally accepted by Egypt and Israel, but Israel remained hesitant to leave the occupied Sinai Peninsula. Eventually, a ceasefire agreement was signed on June 11, 1967. However, violent clashes between both conflict actors resulted in the "War of Attrition". The US became concerned with the escalation of the conflict, and thus mediated the Roger Plan to end outbreaks of violent hostilities.

In October 1973, war broke out once again between Israel and Egypt. The USSR supported the Arab coalition with armaments, while the US sent arms to Israel. Eventually, Israel was able to defend its positions. The Security Council passed Resolution 338 requesting a ceasefire. The Soviet Union intended to intervene, but the US threatened to go to war as a reaction. UN Resolution 339 repeated the requests formulated in Resolution 338 and called for a ceasefire between Israel and Egypt. Eventually, the Agreement on Disengagement (Sinai I) was signed in Geneva in 1974, and Israeli troops pulled back from the Suez Canal. Egypt re-established diplomatic relations with Washington in the same year. Following the war, peace talks took place culminating in the Camp David Accords in 1978, in which the Carter administration acted as a mediator. The Camp David Accords can be interpreted as a first step resolving the core issue at stake between Cairo and Tel Aviv. Both sides presented their demands and agreed to fully implement Resolution 242. In 1979, both sides signed a peace treaty which ended their long-standing conflict. As a reaction, other Arab countries expelled Egypt from OPEC and the Arab League. The process leading to conflict resolution can thus be characterized as peaceful thawing.

Sources

Ben-Ami, Shlomo, 2006. Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bickerton, I. J., 2009. The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History, London: Reaktion Books.

Hinnebusch, R., 2017. "Revisiting the 1967 Arab-Israel war and its consequences for the regional system", British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 44 (4), 593-609.

"Israel profile - Timeline", 2018, BBC News, 13 August. Accessed 6 October 2019;  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29123668.

Louis, W. R., and A. Shlaim, 2012. The 1967 Arab-Israeli War: Origins and Consequences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ovendale, Ritchie, 2015. The Origins of the Arab Israeli Wars Routledge.

United Nations, 1974. Egyptian-Israeli Agreement on Disengagement of Forces in Pursuance of the Geneva Peace Conference (Sinai I). Accessed 6 October 2019: https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/EG%20IL_740118_AgreementOnDisengagementofForces.pdf.

"UCDP - Uppsala Conflict Data Program: Israel: Palestine", 2019. Accessed 5 October 2019 < https://ucdp.uu.se/#conflict/234> 

Ovendale, R., 2004. The Origins of the Arab Israeli Wars, New York: Longman; Pearson Education LTD.