Map – Israel, Egypt & Jordan (1949 – 1956)

TIME PERIOD: 1949 – 1956

“The essential reality of Israeli-Arab relations during 1949-1956 was…unremitting, if generally low-key, conflict. Leaders and news media on both sides regularly voiced propaganda and traded threats, and the Arab world closed ranks in waging massive political warfare against Israel, regarding it as a pariah state and attempting to persuade the rest of the world to follow suit. The Arabs refused to recognize Israel’s existence or right to exist — leaders and writers avoided using the word ‘Israel’; maps left its area blank or called it Palestine…

A comprehensive Arab economic boycott was imposed, including the closure by Egypt of the Suez Canal [July 26, 1956] and the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and to specific goods (such as oil) bound for Israel, carried on third-country vessels, and a ban on deals with companies doing business with Israel.

The most grinding and visible expressions of animosity were border clashes. Most of the tension along the frontiers resulted from Arab infiltration. The daily trespassing and shooting incidents, the occasional murder of Israelis, and the retaliations generated fresh hostility which gradually built up to a crescendo in the second Arab-Israeli war of 1956.”

Benny Morris, Righteous Victims, p. 269, Vintage Books Edition, 2001

 Previous Date — Next Date