Four Arab-Israeli Wars and the Peace Process

534 Pages·1990·61.41 MB·English

by  Sydney D. Bailey (auth.)

FOUR ARAB-ISRAELI WARS AND
THE PEACE PROCESS
Also by Sydney D. Bailey
BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY
CEYLON
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS
HOW WARS END (2 vols)
THE MAKING OF RESOLUTION 242
NAISSANCE DE NOUVELLE DEMOCRATIES
PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT IN SOUTHERN ASIA
THE PROCEDURE OF THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL
PROHIBITIONS AND RESTRAINTS IN WAR
THE SECRETARIAT OF THE UNITED NATIONS
VOTING IN THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL
·THE UNITED NATIONS: A Short Political Guide
·WAR AND CONSCIENCE IN THE NUCLEAR AGE
Edited by Sydney D. Bailey
ASPECTS OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
THE BRITISH PARTY SYSTEM
THE FUTURE OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS
"HUMAN RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND:
A Christian Perspective
PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT IN BRITAIN
PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT IN THE COMMONWEALTH
PROBLEMS OF PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT IN COLONIES
*A lso published by Palgrave Macmillan
Four Arab-Israeli Wars
and the Peace Process
Sydney D. Bailey
MACMILIAN
© Sydney D. Bailey 1982, 1985, 1990
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
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First published 1990 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-0-333-48226-1 ISBN 978-1-349-20967-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-20967-5
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95
Contents
List of Maps Vlll
Preface ix
Abbreviations and Acronyms xi
1 1947-9 1
Prelude to armed conflict 1
The actors 4
The fighting and its aftermath 7
From the Security Council's first consideration of
the Palestine question to the proclamation of the
state of Israel, 24 February-I4 May 1948 8
From the coming into existence of Israel to the
first cease-fire, 15 May-11 June 1948 21
The first cease-fire, 11 June-9 July 1948 28
The lapse of the cease-fire and the first Israeli
offensive, 9-18 July 1948 33
From the coming into force of the second
cease-fire to the second Israeli offensive,
18 July-15 October 1948 36
From the second Israeli offensive to the Egyptian
agreement to a new cease-fire and to enter into
armistice negotiations, 15 October 1948-7 January
1949 45
From the Egyptian agreement to a new cease-fire
and to enter into armistice negotiations to the
Security Council's approval of the four Armistice
Agreements, 7 January-11 August 1949 58
Appendices, 1947-9 71
2 1956-7 107
Prelude to armed conflict 107
The actors 140
The fighting and its aftermath 140
Israel's Operation Kadesh: Britain and France
v
vi Contents
begin to bomb Egypt, 29 October-5 November
1956 141
Britain and France land forces in Egypt, 5 and 6
November 1956 151
Cease-fire: Britain and France withdraw from
Egypt, Israel begins to withdraw, 7 November-22
December 1956 155
Israel withdraws from most of Sinai, 23 December
1956-22 January 1957 163
Israel withdraws from Sharm El-Sheikh and the
Gaza Strip, 22 January-8 March 1957 166
Appendices, 1956-7 174
3 1967 187
Prelude to armed conflict 187
The actors 221
The fighting and its aftermath 222
The June war, 5-10 June 1967 222
Consolidating the cease-fire, 11-16 June 1967 244
Emergency special session of the General
Assembly, including the Johnson-Kosygin
meeting at Glassboro, 17 June-21 July 1967 248
Diplomatic skirmishing, 22 July-(j November
1967 263
Negotiating a peace formula, 7-22 November
1967 267
Appendices, 1967 279
4 1973 285
Prelude to armed conflict 285
The actors 305
The fighting and its aftermath 305
The October war, 6-26 October 1973 306
Convening the Geneva conference, 27 October
1973-14 January 1974 335
Disengagement agreements for Sinai and the
Contents vii
Golan Heights, 15 January-31 May 1974 342
Second Sinai disengagement agreement, 1 June
1974-10 October 1975 345
Sadat's visit to Jerusalem, the Camp David
conference, and the Egypt-Israel peace treaty, 11
October 1975-26 March 1979 349
Appendices, 1973 362
5 The Elusive Peace 394
1947-9 394
1956-7 402
1967 406
1973 415
Lessons of post-war mediation in the Middle
East 420
Notes and References 426
1947-9 426
1956-7 440
1967 454
1973 473
The Elusive Peace 487
Select Bibliographies
1947-9 493
1956-7 495
1967 498
1973 501
The Elusive Peace 504
Index 506
List of Maps
1 Jerusalem, 1949 57
2 Israel and its Arab neighbours, 1949 68
3 The Negev and the Sinai Peninsula 142
4 The Golan Heights 317
viii
Preface
Hostility between the Arabs and Israel has repeatedly led to acts of terror
ism, counter-terrorism, aggression, retaliation, and inter-state armed con
flict. I have focussed in this book on four major wars, in two of which the
first shots were fired by Arabs and in two by Israelis. All four ended in
agreed cease-fires, truces, or armistices, with partial or total withdrawals of
forces in two cases. My main concern, however, is not with the fighting but
with the external efforts after each war to help the parties to move towards
true peace.
My account of each war follows the same format: the prelude to the
fighting, a description of the main actors, the fighting and its aftermath,
extracts from key documents, and a select bibliography which includes all
items cited three or more times in the notes. Chapter 5 comprises a critical
analysis of the post-hostilities peace efforts, with special attention to those
aspects which appear to challenge or contradict the conventional wisdom
about the art and science of mediation.
I should like to thank the Clarendon Press for permission to reproduce
updated accounts of the 1948 and 1956 wars from volume 2 of How Wars
End (1983). My account of the 1967 war is based in part on The Making of
Resolution 242 which was published in 1985, and I would like to thank
Nijhoff of the Netherlands for permission to draw on this material.
I have greatly benefitted from conversation or correspondence with some
of those involved in UN decision-making in 1967: Chief S. O. Adebo,
Lt-General Odd Bull, Lord Caradon, Arthur Goldberg, George Ignatieff,
Major-General Indar Jit Rikhye, and Hans Tabor; and Gunnar Jarring has
been gracious and meticulous in answering my questions about his mission.
Some of those I have consulted about other aspects still hold official
positions and may not be mentioned by name, but I thank them neverthe
less. I am also grateful to the following who expressed to me their views or
supplied me with information not on the public record: Samir Ahmed,
Nissim Bar-Yaacov, Sir Harold Beeley, Yoav Biran, Sir Colin Crowe,
Walter Eytan, Sir James Fawcett, the Hon. David Gore-Booth, Arthur Lall,
Sir Donald Maitland, Sir Anthony Nutting, Sir Anthony Parsons, John
Reedman, Sir David Roberts, Shabtai Rosenne, Robert Rosenstock, Eugene
V. Rostow, Dean Rusk, Peter Sallah, Oscar Schachter, Lt-General Ensio
Siilasvuo, Lord Thomson of Monifieth, and Sir Brian Urquhart; and also
the following who have died since I started this project: Major-General
E. L. M. Burns, Benjamin V. Cohen, Sir Leslie Glass, Lt-General Sir John
Glubb (Glubb Pasha), Judge Philip Jessup, Robert A. Lovett, Lord Trevel
yan, and Charles Yost.
Needless to say, any factual errors or defective judgments are mine alone.
I am indebted to the helpful staff of several libraries, including that at the
ix