Before returning to the diplomatic history of the Arab-Israeli conflict there are a couple of recent updates that need to be mentioned. First, US Secretary of State is visiting the region. He apparently told Israel that the US will back them up on whatever actions they choose to take, He is now heading to Saudi Arabia to put together an Arab response. The main feature eems to be that whatever the final result, Hamas will not have any say in ruling Gaza, neither on the civilian side or the military side.
Hamas is unhappy with the way things are going and has been using their propaganda am to try to derail the American plan. One example has been that France 24 TV described 2 Hamas terrorists killed by IDF air attack near a relief convoy were described as “guarding” the supplies before they were distributed. I believe the correct word to use was “looting”.
Now back to 1949. Despite the signed cease-fire agreements, none of the Arab states talked to Israel about a peace treaty. Jordan even annexed the territory it held, including East Jerusalem, and made the Palestinians Jordanian citizens. Egypt analyzed their defeat and decided it was due to the Israelis having superior weapons acquired from Czechoslovakia and started looking for a new arms supplier. They found one in Russia. They also threw out King Farouk and ended up with a new, pan-Arab nationalist leader named Gamal Abdel Nasser. Nasser was sufficiently ambitious to take over the Suez canal for Egypt, throwing out the British and French in the process. That step took the former European owners of the canal by surprise. They made preparations to recapture the canal by force, but a lot of time passed before they could assemble their forces. They needed an excuse to act. They made secret agreements with Israel. Israel, using French made tanks and aircraft, would attack Egypt before the Egyptians had time to receive all their new toys from Russia (and train Egyptians to use them). Israel attacked the Egyptians (only) in Sinai, and once again, crushed the Egyptian armies. The British and French called for a halt to that war and told both sides to withdraw to positions on their respective sides of the Suez Cana. Anglo-French forces would then occupy the canal area to keep the two sides apart (no matter that the Egyptians were still fighting in Sinai, on the Eastern side of the canal). Nasser turned down the offer and the British and French proceeded to invade. America stepped in to make them quit. The canal remained Egyptian. A UN force was positioned to keep the Israelis and Egyptians from fighting, and, once again, there was a requirement for a negotiated peace (that did not occur).
To be continued.
Wetherhorn 