Gods Own Country- IsraelINTRODUCTIONIsrael is a tiny country situated in the Middle-East on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It shares is borders with Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and West Bank in the east alongwith Egypt and the highly sensitive Gaza Strip on the southwest and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south.Israel ever since coming into existence has fought a series of deadly wars with various Arabian states it is surrounded by and maintains an ultra-aggressive approach while dealing with them in any matter. Israel calls itself as a Jewish, democratic state and is also the worlds only nation with a Jewish majority.The countrys financial centre is Tel-Aviv and the capital is Jerusalem as well as the most populous city. Although in certain places Tel-Aviv is referred to as the capital. The population is 8,051,200 for 2013 according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Jews are the majority in the population with the Arabs being the largest minority group followed by Negev Bedouins, Christians and Druze.Israel has a representative democracy with a Parliament. The people have a proportional representation and universal suffrage as well. Knesset is the countrys unicameral legislative body. The country Prime Minister is Benjamin Netanyahu and the current President is Shimon Peres. Israel is a developed country and its economy was the 43rd largest in the world in 2012. It also has the highest standard of living in the Middle-East and the third highest in Asia.

HISTORY OF ISRAELThe history of the state of Israel began with that of the Iron Age, to boast of, and survived for years rolling thereon.Iron Age (1200 586 BCE)In Israel, the significant era came up with the Israelite period, that was contemporary with the period stretching fromJoshuas conquest of the land through the destruction of theFirst Temple.The Exodus from Egypttook place somewhere around the end of the Bronze age and beginning of the Iron Age.A detailed breakdown:Period of the Judges(1200 1000 BCE): Survived from Joshua through Saul, the first king of Israel.The United Kingdom(1000 930 BCE): It all started with King Saul, the first king of the Jews, who had his own vices and virtues as a ruler. Towards the end of his rule, the Philistines pressed hard killing Saul and three of his sons.The Israelites however did unite to chooseDavidas their next king (especially for he had previously defeated the large Philistine warrior,Goliath). David had already been ruling over the tribe of Judah for 7 years, by then. He established his capital city there in Jerusalem, and then his sonSolomontook over and further expanding the borders and influence of their kingdom. He also did build the first Holy Temple of the Israelites in Jerusalem.Split Kingdom(930 586 BCE): With Solomons death, there was a split among the tribes of Israel, which were never united again under one monarchy. The southern kingdom of Judah amalgamated the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Simon (as well parts of theLevitetribe). Healthily it survived and strived under the rule of the Davidic dynasty, each king succeeded by that of his son. The northern kingdom of Israel thereon held the rest of those tribes, and was ruled by a series of dynasties spanning for a short period of just a king or two.By 722 BCE the Assyrians conquered and destroyed the kingdom of Israel, exiling most of the Israelites then to what is now Iraq. This is the origin of what came to be known as the Lost Tribes of Israel. From Iraq, the Assyrians brought people to Samaria, and those people were later known as theSamaritans.In 701 BCE,SennacheribtheAssyriantried to take Judea as well, but King Hezekiah successfully defended Jerusalem. However, by 586 BCE a new power ruled Mesopotamia: waged their attack and half the Israelites were brought to Babylonia and half were deported to Egypt.Second Temple Period (586 BCE 570 CE)Even though the Second temple was never built in 586 BCE, it was around the bulk of this period, and thus had its name for the span of time. We also have sub-periods for this era.Persian Period(586 333 BCE): The Persian conquest of Babylonia was in 539 BCE, followed by adeclaration by Cyrusthat Israelites would be allowed to return to Israel to rebuildtheir temple. In 536 they returned and the construction was completed in 516 BCE. Thus only a span of 70 years separated those two temples. In 333 BCE, the area was conquered once again by the infamous Alexander.Alexander the Great, that is.Hellenistic Period(333 63 BCE): Alexander survived for a short span, but had accomplished much. When he died in 301 BCE, his kingdom was split among his generals. Rule of the land of Israel changed with hands during this period. The first part from 301 to 200 BCE was the Ptolemaic, which was based in Egypt. From 200 to 167 the Seleucids (based inAntioch) ruled. And for a short 100+ year period, the Jews ruled themselves. 167 63 BCE is popular as the Hashmonaic orHasmoneanera. This was the era that followed the story celebrated by Jews today as Hanukkah.Early Roman Period(63 BCE 70 CE): Pompeii conquered Israel in 63 BCE. The population of Israel were still 95% purely Jewish. Israel then was the Roman province of Judea. In the year 70 CE, the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans.Roman Period (70 324 CE)One of the most vicious Roman rulers of Israel wasHadrian, who ruled from 118 138. During his time, there was a period of three year Jewish rule, during the famousBar Kochba revolt of 132-135. In response, Hadrian went on to wipe out all references to the Israelites. He changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina and Judea to Palestina. He was the first to have used those terms.Byzantine Period (324 640 CE)Christianity was then an illegal religion in the Roman Empire. But the Roman emperorConstantinefaced a problem when his mother converted to Christianity. It was then in 324 he declared Christianity to be an acceptable religion in the Roman Empire, though he himself never gave up Paganism.This next era took its name from his capital city. Though laternamed Constantinople, its original name was Byzantium.Muslim Period (640 1099 CE)The Muslim Conquest got onto Israel in 640, though other countries, however there era began in later years.Islam than began as a religionin 622, but the hold was quick enough, and the Arab people entered the land of Israel for the first time, however after about half a millennium Jewish Rule ended there. This era was also marked by Israel being ruled under three differentMuslim dynasties, each with a motive to place the capital in a different city. The Ummayad wanted it to be in Damascus, the Abasic in Baghdad and the Fatimic in Cairo. But by 1096, Pope Urban II calls for aCrusadeto take the Holy Land back from the infidels, and freefrom the Holy Sepulchre.Crusader Period (1099 1266 CE)The First Crusade reached Israel in 1099. Over years, the land passed back and forth with Muslims pushing the Christians out followed by new Crusades taking it back.Mamluk Period (1266 1517 CE)A group of Egyptian Muslims, motivated with the motive to get back there land, in 1260, defeatedGenghis Khanand the Mongolians, who then had reached Israel. If Khan would have been through, he would have made his way to Egypt. A struggle of six years successfully got them Israel from the Crusaders.Ottoman Period (1517 1917 CE)About 900 years earlier, the country was ruled over by a different group whose name was made infamous with the land of Turkey the Byzantines. But that was in reality a Roman Empire, based in Turkey. In 1517, theOttomans expanded their hold, and reached the Holy Land, capturing that from the Mamluks. The Turks were, Muslim though, but they were not Arabs, explains in part as to why they werent on friendly terms with the Mamluks. Their rule in Israel lasted for the next 400 years and ended with that of the World War I.British Mandate (1917 1948 CE)Although the official British Mandate came in the year 1921, the term is used in general to refer the whole period of British rule in Israel. But 1917 markedthe Balfour Declarationwhich stated:that the British government viewed with favour the establishment of Palestine as a national home for the Jewish people, and will be using use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievements furthering this object, it was clearly understood that nothing would be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.This period stretched from the end of World War I until there was a declaration for State of Israel in 1948.The State of Israel (May 14, 1948 Present)Towards the end of 1947, the United Nations came up with a decision of partition for the British Mandate lands into three parts: Jewish, Arab and UN-administered Jerusalem. Only the Jews appreciated the plan, and Israel declared its independence on 14th of May,1948. The very next day, five of its surrounding Arab countries (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq), with troop assistance from three other Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Sudan), attacked the fledgling Jewish Israel, even before there was the Israels Declaration of Independence. The war however ended a year later.From that period onwards until the present day, the Jews of the world have returned from the proverbial Four Corners of the Earth to reclaim their historic homeland, in the state of Israel.

IMPORTANT WARS AND NOTABLE EVENTSi) Reprisal Raids: The Israeli Defence Forces carried out raids in response to the frequent Fidayeen attacks carried out by armed Arab militants infiltrating from Syria, Egypt and Iran. These raids began following the covert operations that had begun immediately after the 1949 Armistice Agreement was signed. The two main reason behind these operations were restoring public morale and also to train the newly formed army units. The then Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion had said We do not have power to ensure that the water pipe lines won't be exploded or that the trees won't be uprooted. We do not have the power to prevent the murders of orchard workers or families while they are asleep, but we have the power to set a high price for our blood, a price which would be too high for the Arab communities, the Arab armies and the Arab governments to bear[footnoteRef:2]. The hard-line approach of the Israelis was criticised as well. The Canadian Lieutenant General E L M Burns, the then head of United Nations truce observers, had concluded that The retaliation does not end the matter; I goes on and on[footnoteRef:3]. [2: Allon, Yigal, Shield of David. The Story of Israel's Armed Forces. Weidenfield and Nicolson, 1970. ] [3: Burns, Lieutenant-General E.L.M., Between Arab and Israeli. George G. Harrap, 1962.]

ii) Suez War 1956: It is also referred to as the Tripartite aggression, Suez Crisis or Second Arab-Israeli War. It was a diplomatic as well as military confrontation involving Egypt up against the trinity of United Kingdom, Israel and France. The United States, United Nations and the Soviet Union played the role of peacemakers and preventing any further confrontation. The confrontation took place after the Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser took the decision to nationalise as a consequence when the British and the United States withdrew their offer to fund the construction of Aswan High dam. This was due to Egypts reorganisation of China and also due to new ties with the Soviet Union. Although British and the French didnt gain anything from the war, the Israelis did gain somewhat from it. It could again freely navigate through the Straits of Tiran. Due to this conflict the United Nations Emergency Forces were called into patrol the Egyptian-Israeli borders so that hostilities didnt resume.iii) Six Day War 1967: The Six-Day War is also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War or Third Israeli War. It was fought between June 5th-10th in 1967 with Israel on one side and Egypt, Jordan and Syria on the other side. It all started with Israel being the first aggressor as it launched an aerial raid over Egyptian air-fields. The war was preceded by days of high tension in the region following the sabotage of Israelis. The Israeli raid over Jordan ended with West Bank going into the hands of the Israelis. Similar, clashes with Syrians resulted in the Israeli occupation of Golan Heights. On the other hand the Egyptians blocked the Straits of Tiran, ordering the removal of UN forces from Sinai Peninsula. The war ended with Israel occupying the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights.iv) War of Attrition: It was fought between Israel and Egypt. Post 1967 War, there were no real diplomatic efforts to deal with the tensions between the Arabian states and Israel. Infact, the Arab states came up with the Three Nos policy which barred peace, recognition or negotiations with Israel. The Egyptian President went onto declare that Nasser believed that military action was the only way Israel could be compelled to back out from Sinai and thus fire-exchanges resumed again at the Suez Canal. By 1969, the Egyptians launched full scale operations and the exchanges continued with no peace in sight. The fight stopped when in 1970 Israel, Jordan and Egypt agreed to the ceasefire agreement under the Rogers Plan. The Egyptians joined the Soviets and again violated the ceasefire agreement to which the Israelis responded with their very own asymmetrical response retaliation.v) Yom Kippur War (October 1973): It is also referred to as the Ramadan War, October War or 1973 Arab-Israeli War. The Israelis were up against the joint team of Arabian nations led by Egypt and Syria. The war began with a surprise attack on the Israeli occupied positions on the occasion of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of Judaism. Even the United States and the Soviet Union almost came face to face as they resupplied their allies with full effort. The UN had to impose ceasefire twice to finally bring the exchanges to halt and at the end of the war the Israelis were only 40 kms from Damascus and 101 kms from Cairo and encircled Suez from three sides. The war had far-reaching consequences. The Arabians finally gained a much-needed mental boost after their early success in this war. On the other hand, the Israelis realised it wasnt possible to dominate the Gulf alone. Hence both the sides started looking for peace. The subsequent peace treaty Camp David Accords led to the return of the Sinai peninsula to the Egyptians and normalized relations as well as the first peaceful recognition of Israel by an Arab country.vi) Lebanon Wars: The first Lebanon War was fought in 1982 and was also called Operation Peace for Galilee. The Israel Defence Forces invaded Lebanon after an assassination attempt against Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom,Shlomo Argovo, which was used by Begin as justification for the invasion. This justification has been heavily criticised since Abu Nidal Organisation and the PLO split in 1954 leading to reports which also said that the organisation has been based in Syria and not Lebanon. In 2006, the second Lebanon War was fought. It is also called the Israel-Hezbollah War. It was a 34-day military conflict in northern Israel and the Golan Heights. Since the Hezbollah received unprecedented support from Iran, many people also call it the first proxy Iran-Israel War.vii) Intifadas: The first Intifada began in 1987 after an Israeli truck killed four Palestinians in a car due to an accident. This lead to rumours which said the accident was intentional leading to widespread protests and complete boycott of Israeli goods. The second intifada took place in 2000. It was also called Al-Aqsa war or the Oslo war. This was the second Palestinian uprising.viii) Gaza Wars: It was also called the Operation Cast Lead and the Gaza Massacre and the Battle of Al-Furqan. Israel wanted to stock fire into Israel and the smuggling of weapons into Gaza which are again used against Israel. Justice Richard Goldstone in his report has mentioned that both the sides committed war crimes and violated human rights.

ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICTIt basically refers to tensions between Arab League, Israel and between Arabs and Israelis. The roots of the conflict lie in the rise of Zionism and Arab nationalism towards the end of the 19th century. The main bone of contention is the historical land which both the Jews as well as the Arab Muslims claim to be theirs. The conflicts started in early 20th century with some of the widespread riots being 1920s Nebi Musa Riots, the Jaffa riots, 1929s Palestine riots and the Arab revolt. These events eventually lead to a full scale civil war in 1947. It soon expanded to all Arab League countries with the creation of Israel in the month of May in 1948. The whole thing also has a big religious angle to it. All the sides involved in the dispute lay their individual and complete claims for their rigid stand. The beliefs of Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions and their interpretations of the chosen people with regard to the Promised Land and the Chosen City of Jerusalem had always affected those conflicts.The land of Canaan or Eretz Yisrael, according to Hebrew Bible, was promised by God to the Children of Israel. In fact, in an 1896 manifesto, the Jewish State, Theodor Herzl refers to the Biblical Promised Land concept very often. Muslims also claim rights over that land in accordance with the Quran. The Muslims argue that the Land of Canaan was promised to all descendants of Abraham including his lder son, Ishmael- from whom Arabs claim descent. The Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque is very close to the Western Wall, the holiest site of Judaism. This close proximity is also a big reason for the fight over the possession of Jerusalem. According to the popular Muslim myths, it is said that Prophet Mohammad passed through Jerusalem on his first trip to heaven. Hamas which presently holds the Gaza Strip wants to establish an Islamic waqf over the whole of Israel and Palestine. The Christian Zionists believe that the Jews have an ancestral right over Israel as according to Christian Zionism the return of Jews is a pre-condition for the Second Coming of Christ. In 1917, Southern Syria was conqured by the British. The British had earlier secretly conspired with Husayn ibnAli to garner support from the Arabs to win against the Turkish Ottoman empire in World War I. This was followed by the Balfour Declaration which was issued because of the popular belief amongst British leaders that support of the Israelis was essential to win the war. But the Declaration was a massive setback to the Arabs.After the war, the present day Israel, Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority came under the British Mandate of Palestine. The disquiet among the Arabs and the return of Amin Al-Husseini coupled with the Jewish immigration into Mandatory Palestine post World War I angered the Arabs. This lead to violent outbreaks and deadly clashes. Jewish immigration into Mandatory Palestine continued and the rate increased once the Nazis came into power in Germany. The increasing immigration led to even more protests and subsequent Arab Revolt in 1936-1939 in Palestine. The period also saw the birth of Blach Hand, an anti-Jew and anti-British group. In response to increasing Arab pressure, the British reduced the number of immigration of Jews into Mandatory Palestine. This further complicated matters.Sensing that the situation was snowballing into a major one, the British went to the UN demanding a solution to the crisis. And this lead to the formation of Israel in 1947.

ISRAELI-PALESTINE CONFLICTThe Israeli-Palestinian conflicts began around the mid 20th century. It is also used for referring to the sectarian conflicts in Mandatory Palestine between the Zionist Yishuv and Arabians under the British rule. No compromise had been reached between the parties till date and tensions still remain. The primary issues over which there is disagreement are mutual recognition, borders, security, water rights, control of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, Palestinian freedom movement and solution to the refugee situation. There has been widespread destruction and bloodshed in these conflicts so far alongwith a lot of security concerns as well as human rights issues. The violence has taken its toll on the tourism as well with the tourism industry taking a bad hit. Various attempts had been made to broker peace between the parties involved. Although the two-state solution that was proposed did have supporters, it could never happen. In 2007, majority of Israelis and Palestinians preferred the two-state theory. Moreover, many Jews even think that the Palestinians demand for an independent state is fair. Many also view the Gaza Strip and West Bank as the solution for creating an independent state.There have been a lot of civilian casualties till date. There have been many international players invloved in this situation. Direct negotiations still take place between the two sides. The Israeli government, currently headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) which is presently headed by Mahmoud Abbas represent the two sides in the negotiations. The international community also plays it part in downplaying the tensions by playing the role of mediators. An international contigent called the Quartet on the Middle East plays an active role in this regard. The USA, Russia, European Union and UN are a part of it. On the other hand, the Arab League also plays an important role with Egypt being a key participant.Since 2006, Fatah and its electoral challenger Hamas have been involved in their own struggle for supremacy which in turn has weakened the cause of Palestine thus increasing the Israeli might. The power seizure by Hamas in the Gaza Strip back in 2007 split the state of Palestine between Fatah in West Bank and Hamas in Gaza Strip. The roots of the conflict lie back in the mid 19th and 20th centuries. The birth of major nationalist movements amongst the Jews and the Arabs led to tensions. The purpose behind these movements were to attain sovereignty in the Middle-East. The emergence of Palestinian nationalism in 1920 eventually escalated into the Israel-Palestine conflict in 1947. However, post World War I relations between Zionism and Arab national movement seemed to be friendly. The Faizal-Weizmann agreement created a scenario where both the parties could co-exist peacefully. But the decimation of the Arab kingdom of Syria by the French in July 1920 proved disastrous as it led to the returning of several hard-line Arab nationalists to Mandatory Palestine marked the start of Palestinian Arab nationalist struggle. Amin al-Husseini, the real man behind the Palestinian Arab National Movement fixed Jewish National Movement as the sole enemy of Palestines cause. This was followed by massive Anti-Jewish riots and innumerous killings. During World War II things briefly calmed down under the leadership of the Nashashibi clan. In fact, a Jewish Arab Palestine Regiment under the British command fought the Germans in North Africa. Meanwhile, Amir Al-Husseini supported the cause of Nazi Germany in WWII. He even demanded the Germans and Italians to bomb Tel Aviv. After the war, the crisis regarding the fate of Holocaust survivors from Europe renewed the tensions between Yishuv and Palestinian Arab Leadership.Finally, on 29 November 1947, UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 181(II) recommending adoption and implementation of a plan to partition Palestine into an Arab state, a Jewish state and hence the City of Jerusalem.

INDIA AND ISRAELOver the years the relationship between India and Israel has only grown stronger. The two countries have been trading with each other significantly. The recent defence deals are a very good example of that. Infact, India is now Israels largest defence consumer accounting for over 50% of the defence sales of Israel. Also, Israel is Indias second biggest supplier after Russia. The two countries are also trading and investing in various other sectors like water treatment, education, agricultural technology etc.Although officially the two countries started interacting only in 1992 but their relations between the two from before. Though they were not that good as Mahatma Gandhi never supported the creation of Israel for he was never in support of division on basis of religion. Similarly, the Congress government has also never whole heartedly been involved in any relations with Israel. Even during the creation of Israel as a country, the Indian Government lead by Nehru didnt vote in favour of Israel. However, they quickly changed their stance to recognise it as a state in 1950. Infact, in 1954 Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru went on to say that he would not "be a party to a resolution which stated that the creation of Israel was a violation of international law".[footnoteRef:4] [4: Noorani, A.G.,"Dissent in Israel".Frontline(The Hindu Group), May 10, 2003.]

Interestingly, all the pro-Hindu organizations and political parties are staunch supporters of Israel and their hard-line policies. The RSS and VHP are huge supporters of Israel. Even the BJP leader of Opposition believes that Israel is a very reliable partner. It is said that the Research and Analysis Wing is closely related to Mossad since during its inception the Indian Prime Minister had said she wants it to come up on the lines of Mossad. Moreover, Israel was one of the few countries that had supported us after the Pokhran nuclear tests. An Israel Foreign Ministry report has said that India is more pro-Israel than any other country. It is ahead of even the United States. Even after 26/11, Israel had expressed their desire to get Mossad involved into the investigation.

CONCLUSIONAfter going through the various historical events and occurrences of Israel, we can conclude that their acts were very much justified. They had been subjected to a number of atrocities by the Muslims. Its not that the Muslims do not have any right over Palestine but the fact that during World War II the Jewish survivors moved towards Palestine considering it to be their holy homeland. Even their holy book the Hebrew bible mentions the Jews to be Gods Own Children and that the land of Palestine and Israel was kept by God for them. The ideal situation for a place like Jerusalem would have been a peaceful co-existence for all the three communities including Jews, Christians and Muslims. But the aggression by the likes of Amin Al-Husseini was completely uncalled for. The Mandate for Palestine and the Balfour Declaration were given by the British and not the Jews. Hence venting your frustration on the Jews was not done by any means. So we can say that a few errors from the British coupled with the uncompromising stands of both the parties has also played its role in increasing the tensions.Post the creation of Israel, the attacks continued on Israeli interests in and around the Middle-East. So it was obvious that someday something was bound to happen. And so we had the Reprisal raids. These raids were the need of the hour. It is said that the best way of offence is defence. True indeed.The Israeli attacks were completely alright. They had already suffered too much. Hence they decided to come out and fight it out. There was nothing wrong in it. Though the theory of asymmetrical response seems a bit too much. Moving on, even the first intifada was triggered by an accident which was misinterpreted as an attack on the Palestinians and let to uprisings. Again we dont really see any reason here for the Arabs to berserk against the Israelis.So basically going through all these events we can conclude that the Israelis had no choice but to fight and stand up against whatever was thrown at them.

BIBLOGRAPHYBOOKS:1. John Bright, An History Of Israel: With an Introduction and Appendix by William P. Brown, 4th edition, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000.

WEBSITES:1. History Of Israel. The History Of Israel Timeline. Accessed on September 21, 2013.http://history-of-israel.org/history/time_line.php2. Wikipedia. Arab-Israeli Conflict. Accessed on September 20, 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_conflict3. Wikipedia. History Of Israel.Accessed on September 20, 2013.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Israel4. Wikipedia. India-Israel Relations Accessed on September 21, 2013.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India%E2%80%93Israel_relations 17