Historical Overview of Israeli Palestinian Relations Until 2007

By Omega Brdarevic Nino

This book addresses the issues surrounding the Arab-Israeli conflicts. Beginning with a brief historical and geographical overview, it introduces the reader to the complexities of the relationship that originated in the time of Canaan and persisted to the present day. Furthermore, through the British Mandate over Palestine after World War I and up to the initial conflicts resulting from Zionist movements, the book explains the roots of the conflicts and how they came about. One chapter is dedicated to the wars that Israel engaged in from its establishment in 1948 until 2006, providing insight into the role of the Soviet Union in the Middle East and the emergence of the Palestinian Liberation Movement and Hamas in Lebanon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Omega Brdarevic Nino
• Release date: Dec 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223399384

Book preview

Historical and Geographical Overview of the Land of Israel until 1917

Geography and Terminology

THE AREA OF PRESENT-day Israel has been at the intersection of significant historical regions and trade routes since prehistoric times. Eretz Israel or the Land of Israel, as Jews have traditionally called their land throughout history, refers to the Middle East region, roughly bordered by Syria to the north, Egypt to the south, Arabia to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. However, these boundaries, as we will see later, have frequently changed throughout history.

Throughout history, the names of the land or state inhabited by the Hebrews, Israelites, or Jews changed in parallel with changes in intra-Jewish circumstances and various conquests. Thus, the area of the tribe of Judah, from the Israeli conquests of Canaan to the Greek conquests, could be called only Judea from the Hebrew name Yehuda. In the Greco-Roman period, the name Judea emerged, from the Greek and Latin forms of the Hebrew name Yehuda. Today, Israelis again refer to this area as Judea, but in most other languages, the term Judea has become more prevalent. The name of the land, officially or colloquially, changed throughout history from Canaan, the Promised Land, Coele-Syria, Syria, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee.

The region ruled by the Hasmoneans and later the Romans was called Judea, and Judea, at certain periods, included Galilee, Samaria, Idumea, and some areas on the eastern bank of the Jordan River. The term Palestine as the name of a province was introduced by Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century after the suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt, and that name, with certain connotative oscillations and modifications, has persisted to this day. The toponym Palestine has taken on ideological and political connotations in recent decades, which were not present half a century ago.

Until recently, both Jews and Arabs living in the area where the State of Israel was established were referred to as Palestinians. The noun Palestine was used by Zionists, anti-Zionists, and those who had no opinion on Palestinian events. It was neutral, descriptive, and without connotations. The term Levant has been in use since the time of the Crusades, and the term West Bank as a kind of political euphemism for Judea and Samaria is used in the context of events in recent Middle Eastern history after 1948. The name Eretz Israel in ancient times refers to the Promised Land, the area promised to the Israelites in the Bible, and in the context of contemporary events, primarily refers to the territory of the State of Israel, including Judea, Samaria, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and, of course, unified Jerusalem. The term Promised Land is a name that can be used in any period covered by this historical overview, and Eretz Israel from the Israeli conquests described in the biblical book of Joshua to the present day.

Hebrews, Israelites, Jews

IN SOURCES RELATED to Jewish history or works about Jewish history, various terms are used to refer to Jews: Hebrews, Israelites, Judeans, or Jews. When using these terms, it is essential to keep in mind that each name was given in a specific time period and had a distinct context for its usage. The oldest of all these terms is Hebrew, originating from the Bible. In the Bible, Abraham is referred to as a Hebrew, or in Hebrew, Ivri. The name first appears in Genesis 14:13. Hebrew is not an ethnonym and is primarily used as a term that Israelites use when speaking to foreigners, and foreigners use when referring to them during periods when they were still nomads or slaves. Secular Zionism in the 19th and 20th centuries reintroduced this term into usage. Hebrew now symbolizes the new Jew, but especially since the establishment of the modern state of Israel, it has been replaced by the term Israelite. Jacob's second name, Israel, was given to him by God after a mysterious nocturnal struggle (Genesis 32:29), and it is the most commonly used name in the Bible.

The term Jew comes from the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, Judah, as well as the name Judean. The tribe of Judah is the only one that has remained as a bearer of Israelite history since the Second Temple, while all other tribes have simply disappeared from the historical scene. When discussing the Israelite people, it primarily refers to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the descendants of the twelve tribes of Israel. This term also includes the goyim, non-Jews who have chosen to adopt the Israelite law according to which they live and operate. In other words, the Israelite people are a term that encompasses two areas: Jews living in the State of Israel and the Jewish diaspora.

The Oldest History of Israel from Migration to the Babylonian Captivity

AT THE END OF THE BRONZE Age, due to numerous economic difficulties, Egypt withdrew from the highly urbanized Canaan, and other nations emerged in this region. In the south of the country, the Philistines appeared, in the north, the Phoenicians, and in the highlands, the Israelites. This early Iron Age is the time when the Israelite tribes formed. According to biblical sources, the Israelites arrived in Canaan around the 14th century BCE. The Canaanites continued to inhabit most of the land, living alongside the Israelites, preserving their religion and culture. This can be found in the Bible, which mentions the worship of numerous Canaanite gods in several places. This people formed their kingdoms independently of the Israelites. There were five kingdoms: Aram, Phoenicia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Philistia. These kingdoms shared this part of the Middle East with Israel. Each of these kingdoms was equal in power and fought for dominance in the Palestinian region. It is essential to mention that these kingdoms remained autonomous for a long time until the arrival of strangers from the east.

Around 1050 BCE, Saul, a young man from the tribe of Benjamin, was appointed as the king of Israel. Saul successfully fought against the Ammonites and later the Philistines. For the first time during his reign, a regular army appeared in Israel, always assembled, regardless of whether the kingdom was in danger or not.

In one of the numerous battles against the Philistines, David, a shepherd from Bethlehem, gained fame for killing Goliath, a giant Philistine warrior, as we know from the Bible. Since David was successful in numerous battles against the Philistines and loved by the people, he was proclaimed king after Saul's death in 1010 BCE in Hebron. He conquered Jerusalem, which did not belong to the Israelite kingdom at the time, and made it the Israelite capital. Jerusalem became an essential political and religious center because David had the Ark of the Covenant transferred from Shiloh.

Although David had a plan to build the temple during his lifetime, he did not succeed, and this task fell to his son Solomon. Solomon reigned from 970 to 930 BCE. He built the temple in Jerusalem on the same spot where Abraham was supposed to sacrifice his son Isaac. He was succeeded by his son Rehoboam, who ruled for seventeen years, but during his reign, the kingdom split into Israel and Judah. Rehoboam was not submissive as a king, and with his high taxes, he angered the people. Jeroboam seized this opportunity and declared himself the king of the ten northern Israelite tribes.

The only tribes that remained loyal to the king were Judah and Benjamin, inhabiting the Jerusalem region and the Negev to the Mediterranean. The ten northern tribes were now known as Israel or the Northern Kingdom, while the rest of the kingdom, the descendants of David, was called Judah. Since Rehoboam did not accept Jeroboam's rule, war broke out between the two kingdoms. Neighboring kingdoms took advantage of this situation, posing a significant threat to Judah from the east, south, and west, where the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Philistines were lurking. Judah was surrounded by conflicts from all sides of the world. After the kingdom's split, they were never reunified. Shortly after 1000 BCE, the Assyrian kingdom from the present-day Iraq began to rise. By the end of the eighth century, all the kingdoms in Canaan had either been conquered or become vassals subordinate to the Assyrian kingdom. In 725 BCE, the Assyrians besieged the fortified Israelite city of Samaria, ultimately conquering it after three years. From 722 to 720 BCE, Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom. The ten tribes, later known as the ten lost tribes of Israel, went into exile. The Assyrians resettled the conquered population into various parts of their vast empire, including Israel. The Assyrians turned their attention to Judah, unsuccessfully besieging Jerusalem in 701