Top 10 Mistakes in the Arab-Israeli Conflict

1. 1948 - Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon and Iraq overestimate their military power, reject the 1947 UN Partition Plan and attack the newly declared State of Israel. After losing the war, the Palestinians lose their proposed state under the plan, while 700,000 Palestinians and 800,000 Jews from Arab countries become refugees.

2. 1949 - Egypt and Jordan refuse to grant the Palestinians their state, despite having full control over Gaza and West Bank. Jordan goes further and annexes the West Bank. Palestinians lose their proposed state once again and remain refugees.

3. 1967 - Egypt miscalculates its strength and calls for a unified Arab war against Israel. Israel launches a preemptive strike, and within six days, Syria, Jordan and Egypt lose control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

4. 1968 - Israel allows the building of settlements, complicating an already complicated situation. In the following years, Israel removes all settlements from Sinai following the Egyptian-Israeli peace Treaty, and from Gaza as part of its Disengagement Plan.

5. 1973 - Israel's Intelligence fails to predict the Yom Kippur War declared by a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria. The war almost starts a nuclear World War III as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir makes the decision to arm nuclear Jericho missiles and nuclear F-4s for strikes against Egyptian and Syrian targets.

6. 1982 - Palestinians incorrectly assume they can terrorize Israeli citizens endlessly from Lebanon. After several years of terror attacks with limited responses from Israel, Israel invades Lebanon and drives out the vast majority of Palestinian terrorists to Tunis.

7. 1995 - Israel's Shin Bet fails to stop Yigal Amir, a Jewish right-wing lunatic, from assassinating Prime Minister Rabin. Peace process between Israel and Palestinians, started with the Oslo Accords by Rabin, grinds to a halt for the next 5 years.

8. 2000 - Palestinians' Arafat rejects US brokered peace offer that would have granted Palestinians a state over 90% of the West Bank, and 100% of Gaza. Instead, Arafat demands the "right of return" which would have caused millions of Palestinians to become Israeli citizens and end Israel as a Jewish democracy. Instead of peace, Israel gets wave after wave of terror attacks, while the Palestinians get the security barrier instead of a state.

9. 2006 - Palestinian people vote against peace with Israel in the 2006 elections, granting Hamas, a designated terror organization, a majority in the Palestinian Parliament. Instead of destroying Israel as per its charter, Hamas started the Palestinian Civil War, and broke the Palestinian Authority into two separate entitites: Hamas ruled Gaza and Fatah ruled West Bank.

10. 2006 - Syria and Iran misjudge Israel's determination to defend itself and order their Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, to attack Israel. In retaliation, Israel destroys most of Hezbollah's military power. Hezbollah's Secretary General Nassrallah later apologizes to the Lebanese people for the incident that sparked it all, saying "Had we known that the capture of the soldiers would have led to this, we would definitely not have done it."

Have your say - what do YOU think are the biggest mistakes done through out the years of the Arab-Israeli conflict? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this matter.

Comments

[michael]

Mistake 11:
The apathy of the Israeli public, in mobilising to try and force new elections or a Knesset no-confidence vote in the wake of the Second Lebanon War.

Mistake 12:
George W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice, and Ehud Olmert's assumption that Mahmoud Abbas is a "peace partner" who can deliver anything of any substance.

Mistake 3a (1967):
Israel didn't establish a security perimeter in the Jordan Valley, and pull out of the West Bank/Gaza areas. Yeah, it felt good to get the ancient Jewish heartland back, but it came with the palestinians, and what good have they ever done for anyone?

[RHM]

I'd say Sharon's decision to withdraw from Gaza as a sign of goodwill was a definite mistake. Israel was taking rocket fire from Gaza within days.

[Velvel ben Moshe]

The major mistake in Israel was in not listening to Rabbi Meir Kahane (OBM). If we had heeded his warnings (which were right on target) we would not have the problems we have today. Am Israel Chai

[Dano]

Israel will prevail!

[Ariely Mordechay]

1:The major stop to any stable agreement was and still is s the unwilliness of the Arab states and the Palestinians to accespt Isreal as a ligitimete jewsh state. Israely politition should highlite to the Israely public, the worldwide jewish poeple and the international comunity this main issue. Uless this main issue is not solved all the agreements and talks are only the best conflict management or stage tactics leading to the distruction of Israel

[Bruce Gilboord]

Regarding point # 7 "1995 - Israel's Shin Bet fails to stop Yigal Amir, a Jewish right-wing lunatic, from assassinating Prime Minister Rabin."

I resent the inference that Ygal Amir, was motivated by political beliefs that are popular among the "right-wing". I don't recall the advocacy of assassination in any op-ed pieces I read at the time.
I also take issue with the popular claim that he is a lunatic. I have not seen any evidence that points to his mental/emotional state before, during or after the assignation. In fact he was enrolled in law school at the time of the assassination.
Finally, the evidence that indicates him as a lone assassin is about as strong as the evidence that indicates Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin of American President John F. Kennedy. I suspect that only about half the American public as well as only about half the Israeli public believe in their respective lone assign theories.
There is very much evidence to suggest Yigal Amir was more of a patsy just as Oswald said he himself was.

[ted]

from Iranian and former revolutionary guard biggest mistake is trust stupid Iranian mullahs bring war and terrorist in all over the world and bring my oil and my money from Iran and spending on lazy Arab