Syria vs. Israel

1949 - ongoing by 2011

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

Type of conflict ending: Conflict ongoing by 2011

Syria joined neighboring Arab countries in their war against the newly-created state of Israel in 1948. The war resulted in a decisive victory for Israel and in an armistice agreement between Syria and Israel on July 20, 1949. However, the agreement did not last long and renewed violence became part of the relationship between both states. The core issue that divided Israel and Syria referred to the legitimacy of the creation of a Jewish state on Arab lands which was opposed by Syria.

In 1963, the Ba’ath Party conducted a successful coup d’état in Syria. Following anti-Israeli Arab sentiment, its succeeding ideology was based on Marxism and anti-imperialism, but Israel was still perceived as a hostile country as it was regarded to represent imperialism and spoiler in the unification of all Arab nations based on the notion of pan-Arabism. In consequence, greater support for the Palestinian cause was provided by Syria. In 1967, Syria further participated in the Six-Day War. Israel came off victorious from the war and gained new territories, including the Golan Heights which were served as a buffer zone for future violent escalations. These territorial gains of Israel intensified Syrian enmity towards Israel as Israel refused to hand them back as it did with the Sinai Peninsula in 1982. International pressure, as well as the Soviet threat to participate in a war, halted the Israeli offensive. Even though the Soviet Union was initially a supporter of Israel, it eventually turned away and allied with the Syrian government. This relationship lasted until the dissolution of the USSR and influenced all peace talks between both conflict actors during the Cold War.

An attempt by the international community to pacify the Middle East was provided by United Nations Resolution 242. According to this resolution, Israel should return conquered territories, and neighboring countries should recognize the sovereignty of Israel. Although initially Syria refused the requirements of the resolution, after its defeat in Yom Kippur War in 1973 it changed its political stance. Syria accepted the brokered ceasefire but did not formally accept Israel’s right to exist.

The war in 1973 was due to revisionist ambitions on the Arab side and can be interpreted as a revival of pan-Arab nationalism. Israel won the war and Egypt intended to sign a peace agreement. From the Syrian perspective, the Egyptian agreement with Israel presented a vulnerability which Syria attempted to counteract during the war in Lebanon and during the Israeli struggle with the PLO. A year later, Syria and Israel signed the Agreement on Disengagement which de facto created a borderline between Syria and Israel.

Syria attended the Madrid Conference in 1991, yet it left it, together with Lebanon, without any resolution on the Israeli question. In 1999, the president of Syria and the Israeli prime minister met in high-level talks to discuss measures to foster peace between the two countries, yet without any result due to disputes over the Sea of Galilee. After Bashar al-Assad became President of Syria, relations between Iran and Syria intensified, and with it enmity towards Israel. As of 2011, there was no formal recognition of Israel by Syria.

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

Pan, Esther, 2006. “Syria, Iran, and the Mideast Conflict”, Council on Foreign Affairs, 18 July. Accessed 7 October 2019; https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/syria-iran-and-mideast-conflict.

“TIMELINE: A Chronology of Israel-Syria Relations Since 1947”, 2007. Reuters, 6 September. Accessed 7 October 2019; https://www.haaretz.com/1.4971680

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

United Nations Security Council, 1974. “Israel-Syria: Agreement on Disengagement”, Report of the Secretary General. Accessed 7 October 2019; https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_11302_add_1.pdf.