The Arab States and Israel are old enemies. There are 22 Arab countries in the Middle East, with a total population of 420 million, Israel is a small country with a land area of 25,000 square kilometers and a population of only more than 9 million.
The feud between Israel and the Arab States stems from the Palestinian-Israeli partition programme adopted by the United Nations in 1947. The ancestors of the Jews originally lived in Egypt, the land of Canaan (present-day Palestine) and other regions. 2,000 years ago, the Romans conquered Palestine, and they began to persecute, bully and oppress the Jews, causing them to be unbearable, and eventually left their homes and took refuge in Europe and other places.
In modern times, Europeans have begun to "do not want to see" Jews, especially after Hitler came to power, Nazi Germany began to persecute and massacre Jews, resulting in the death of 6 million Jews. After World War II, the unfortunate experience of the Jews was universally sympathized with by the people of the world. At the same time, the Jews wanted to end their wandering days and send people under the fence and have a country of their own.
In 1947, with the support of the United States, the Soviet Union and 33 other countries, 13 countries opposing, and 10 abstaining, the United Nations adopted the "Palestine Future Settlement Plan<第181号决议>", which decided to divide the Palestinian areas under British trusteeship into two and establish two states, Israel and Palestine. The Arabs, who made up the majority, acquired 45 per cent of the territory, totaling 11,000 square kilometers, and the territory was divided into three parts, and the Jews, who occupied a minority, acquired 55 per cent of the land, for a total of 14,000 square kilometers.
After the homeland was occupied by the Jews, the Arabs were indignant. On May 14, 1948, Israel declared its independence. On the 15th, the armies of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and other countries entered Palestine and attacked Israel.
First, the first Middle East war began
The Arab Coalition, a total of 43,000 people, israel at that time had a population of 800,000 and a force of 34,000 troops, and was at a disadvantage. After the outbreak of war, the Israeli army sneaked up on the Egyptian army, leaving the Egyptian army to suffer heavy losses. The armies of Transjordan, Iraq and Lebanon have been relatively smooth and have achieved certain results. At the beginning of the war, the Israeli army was gradually defeated and the Arab army had the advantage. At this point, the United States and the Soviet Union intervened, demanding an immediate vote from the UN Security Council to stop the Arab forces. At the same time, the United States forced Britain to stop supplying weapons to Egypt, Iraq, and Transjordan. Faced with the interference of the United States and the Soviet Union, Palestine and Israel could only agree to a ceasefire around.
This gives Israel a chance to breathe. Taking advantage of the ceasefire, Israel began to replenish its troops and purchased bombers and other weapons from the United States, Britain and other countries.
On July 9, 1948, the well-prepared Israeli army launched a counteroffensive against the Arab army. After the Arab countries were unable to obtain weapons assistance, they were inferior in equipment, but instead they were defeated by the Israeli army, which had advanced weapons such as bombers.
Subsequently, the United Nations intervened to coordinate the armistice between the two sides. During the ceasefire, Israel began a program of emigration, and a large number of Jews came to Israel from all over the world. Israel's army expanded to 90,000, with more than 100 aircraft and 16 ships, surpassing the Arab coalition. On October 15, Israel broke the ceasefire and launched an offensive against the Arab army, inflicting heavy losses on the Arab army in the Battle of Yof, the Battle of Hiram, and the Battle of Horif, winning the First Middle East War.
Ii. Suez Canal War (also known as the Second Middle East War)
In October 1951, Egypt abrogated the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, demanding the withdrawal of British troops from Egypt and wanting to reclaim the Suez Canal from Britain and France. Connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, the Suez Canal is a golden route connecting Europe, Asia and Africa, and its strategic location is very important.
Britain and France, for their own interests, refused to abandon the Suez Canal, and they united with Egypt's rival Israel to launch the Suez Canal War. On October 29, 1956, the Israeli army, supported by the French Air Force, launched an offensive against Egypt, occupying Abu Ogra and other places in Egypt. Subsequently, Britain and France sent troops to occupy the Suez Canal on the pretext of protecting the navigation of the canal.
The actions of Britain, France and Israel were widely criticized by the international community, in which the Soviet Union blamed Israel's actions: "It will make it a question of whether Israel can continue to exist as a state." The Soviets also warned Britain and France that if the fire did not cease, they would attack Britain nuclearly. The United States is also dissatisfied with the military actions of Britain, France and Israel, accusing them of being a re-manifestation of colonialism.
In order to maintain unity within NATO, the United States warned the Soviet Union not to attack Britain and France. At the same time, the United States was also worried that the Soviet Union and the Arab countries would attack Britain and France, and would lose the support of the Arab countries. For its own benefit, the United States united with the Soviet Union to put pressure on Britain and France. The United States suspended economic assistance to Britain, and also sold pounds to hit the British economy, so that Britain and France could not withstand the pressure, and finally chose to withdraw their troops. After the withdrawal of British and French troops, Israel also withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula in March 1957.
The Suez Canal War, because of the intervention of the United States and the Soviet Union, ended with the withdrawal of British, French and Israeli troops, and Egypt reclaimed the canal.
The 3rd and 6th Day War (also known as the Third Middle East War)
In 1964, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon reached an agreement on the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the use of the Jordan River, and they wanted to change the flow of the Jordan River so that the waters of the Jordan River did not flow through Israel. This threatens Israel's survival. In November of the same year, Israel bombed the upper Jordan River, forcing countries such as Syria to abandon plans to change the course of the Jordan River.
The establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Events in the Jordan River have intensified the contradictions between Arab countries and Israel. Jordan and Lebanon continue to attack Israel. The Syrian army and the Israeli army are also facing each other at the border. In 1967, moscow, Cairo, and Damascus reported that "Israeli troops were massing forces in the north to attack Syria," exacerbating tensions between Israel and Arab countries. Egypt, in order to stand up for its Arab brothers, blockaded the Strait of Tiran, Israel's main outlet.
Embattled, the Israeli army took the initiative and attacked the armies of Arab countries such as Egypt, Syria and Jordan. In the early morning of June 5, 1967, when the Egyptian officers were still on their way to work, the Israeli Air Force struck with lightning, catching the Egyptian Air Force by surprise, and many aircraft were blown up by the Israeli Air Force before they could take off. The first wave of Israeli attacks destroyed 10 airports in Egypt. In the following 60 hours, the Israeli Air Force carried out four waves of air strikes against arab countries, destroying 451 Arab aircraft and causing heavy losses to arab countries. Egypt, the most powerful, was destroyed with 95 percent of its combat aircraft and its air force paralyzed.
At the same time, the Egyptian army and the Israeli army, war broke out in the Sinai Peninsula, and without air support, the Egyptian army suffered a crushing defeat to the Israeli army, and Israel gained the Sinai Peninsula. The Israeli army also defeated the Jordanian army and Syria, seizing the Old City of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Subsequently, the United States and the Soviet Union intervened, and the third Middle East war ended with the complete victory of the Israeli army.
Fourth, the Fourth Middle East War
On October 6, 1973, Syria and Egypt, after careful planning and deployment, launched a surprise attack on Israel on the Day of Yom Kippur for the Israelis in order to regain the land lost in the Six-Day War. The Israelis, caught off guard by Syria and Egypt, were slightly embarrassed, and frequently lost the first two days, giving the Arab countries the upper hand. But soon, israeli soldiers turned the tide of battle by rapidly mobilizing, first north and then west, focusing on the strategy of using troops, and making a large in-depth raid on the west bank of the Suez Canal.
In this war, the Arab countries received the assistance of the Soviet Union, and the two sides invested a large number of tanks, artillery, aircraft, missiles and other weapons, especially Egypt, using SAM-2, SAM-3, SAM-6, and SAM-7 missiles to build a set of prevention and control systems, so that the Israeli Air Force did not dare to enter the airspace of the canal and grasped the air supremacy of the battlefield. The Israeli army uses air-to-air missiles such as the Sidewinder and the Dragonfly and the Gabriel missiles to attack the aircraft and ships of the Arab army. The two sides also engaged in a large-scale electronic confrontation, which led to a very tragic situation, with the loss of 60% of their aircraft, more than 80% of their ships, and a large number of tanks.
The Arab countries, which received a steady stream of weapons support from the Soviet Union, once took the initiative on the battlefield, and Israel's ammunition reserves fell rapidly, making it difficult to sustain the next war. After Israel was in trouble, the United States launched a five-cent rescue operation, using civil aviation aircraft and C-141 and C-5 transport aircraft to deliver a large number of weapons to Israel, solving Israel's immediate needs.
After the outbreak of war, a large number of Israeli warplanes were shot down or damaged by various surface-to-air missiles deployed by Arab countries, causing heavy losses. After the United States replaced the F4 fighters equipped by its own air force with the livery of the Israeli Air Force, the US Flying Army drove to Israel, and then replaced them with Israeli pilots to directly participate in the war. The United States also provided Israel with new weapons such as maverick missiles, hundred-tongued missiles and Trotsky missiles, as well as a steady stream of intelligence support, helping Israel defeat Egypt and Syria and win the fourth Middle East war.
The Lebanese War (also known as the Fifth Middle East War)
On June 6, 1982, after the assassination of the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom by Palestinian forces, Israel used this as an excuse to dispatch 100,000 troops of army, navy and air force to launch a large-scale attack on the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Syrian army in Lebanon. Israel's aim is to eliminate the Palestine Liberation Organization, establish a pro-Israel Government in Lebanon and drive out syrian troops in Lebanon.
The scale of the Lebanese war is very large, Israel sent more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, 1500 tanks, 400 aircraft, and more than 20 warships. There are 25,000 PLO armed forces, more than 23,700 Lebanese government troops, 30,000 Syrian troops, more than 40 armed forces in Lebanon, including about 20,000 Muslim armed forces, about 40,000 Christian Phalangist militias, and Haddad, a pro-Israel armed force, about 36,000 people. Both sides put in more than 100,000 troops.
It was the largest war between the Arab states and Israel. Arab armies are still not rivals to the Israeli army. From 16 September to 18 September 1982, during the Lebanese War, pro-Israel Lebanese Christian militias massacred a large number of Palestinian refugees in Beirut's Sabra neighborhood and Shatila refugee camp, causing a massacre in Beirut that shocked the world. After the massacre was exposed, Israel was condemned by the international community, and large-scale protest marches broke out in the country. Subsequently, under the good offices of the United Nations, Israeli troops withdrew from Lebanon, and the Lebanese-Israeli war ended.
6. Summary
Five Middle East wars, although the Arab countries have lost to Israel, in fact, the first Middle East war and the fourth Middle East war, at the beginning, the Arab countries have the advantage, especially the fourth Middle East war, the Syrian and Egyptian coalition forces will fight Israel to the end of the ammunition, into a dilemma, but the united States assistance, let the Israeli army defeat the victory, defeat the Arab army.
U.S. help was a key factor in Israel's defeat of Arab militaries. At the same time, Israeli soldiers are well equipped, and the tactical quality of soldiers, as well as the will to fight, are stronger than those of Arab soldiers, which is also a key factor in the repeated victories of the Israeli army.