Arab-Israeli Conflict and its impacts on International relations Research Paper

Arab-Israeli Conflict and its impacts on International relations - Research Paper Example That action immediately led to the first military conflict between Israel and few Arab countries, followed by a series of major Wars as well as minor conflicts between them throughout the second part of the 20th century. Among these conflicts, the Suez Crisis and the Six Day War were considered to be the important wars, because those wars not only impacted the geographical ‘make-up’ of the area but also impacted the international relations of various countries. That is, the international relations of the involved Arab states, Israel as well as then superpowers, United States and Soviet Union underwent changes, with alignments and realignments happening. USA and Soviet Union played ‘major’ roles in impacting or even ‘dictating’ many countries’ international relations in that period. Because of that role, equations between them, as well as their relations with the Arab states and Israel evolved maximally due to the Arab-Israeli conflicts impacting the International relations from 1945. Although, during the First Arab-Israeli conflict, USA and Soviet Union sided with Israel, realignment started happening before the Suez crisis and during the Six Day War, wit h Soviet Union siding with the Arab states, while USA supported Israel and also tried its best to maintain its neutral stance. This paper will discuss how Arab-Israeli conflicts reached the crescendo during the Suez Crisis and the Six Day War impacting the international relations of not only the involved countries but also other major countries. Genesis of the Conflict Before the World War I (1914-1918), the present day territories of Israel and Palestine were under the control of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.1 However, with the Arabs feeling discriminated under Turkish control, they fought and drove out the Ottomans with the aid of the British, who were against the Ottomans for their support of Germany. British elicited the support of the Arabs to fight against the Ottomans by promising to give them, the conquered land. In 1916, the British Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon gave a promise to the Arab leadership that in the aftermath of the war, former Ottoman provinces can be given to them. â€Å"I am empowered in the name of the Government of Great Britain to give the following assurances†¦Great Britain is prepared to recognise and support the independence of the Arabs in all the regions within the limits demanded by the Sherif of Mecca.†2 However, in 1917, the British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour gave another commitment to the leading Zionist leader, Lord Rothschild that Britain is committed to â€Å"the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people†, which came to be referred as the as the Balfour Declaration. 3 When the British got the territories through the League of Nations in the aftermath of the First World War, they minimally allocated the territories to the Arabs, and kept Palestine under their control.4 This mixed stance of the British continued for years to come. During these years, there was heightened inflow of the Jews into these territories. The Jewish Immigration to the Holy Land, which was go ing on since the 1880s