Wars of Israel
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The state of Israel has known seven wars, and two intifadas since the day of its establishment, which constitute the militaristic compund of the complex Arab-Israeli conflict.
[edit] Wars of Israel
The violent confrontations which appear in this list were recognized as wars by the Defense Minister of Israel:
- The War of Independence (November 1947 - March 1949), also known as "War of Liberation". Was the first in a series of wars fought between the newly declared State of Israel and its Arab neighbors in the long-running Arab-Israeli conflict. In its conclusion, a set of agreements were signed between Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria called the 1949 Armistice Agreements which established the armistice lines between Israel and the West Bank, also known as the Green Line.
- The Sinai War (October 1956) - Was a military attack on Egypt by Britain, France, and Israel beginning on 29 October 1956 with the intention to occupy the Sinai Peninsula and to takeover the Suez Canal. The attack followed Egypt's decision of 26 July 1956 to nationalize the Suez Canal after the withdrawal of an offer by Britain and the United States to fund the building of the Aswan Dam.
- Six-Day War (June 1967) - Was fought between Israel and Arab neighbors Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The nations of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Algeria also contributed troops and arms to the Arab forces. Following the war the territory held by Israel expanded a lot ("The Purple Line") : The West Bank, Golan Heights is and Sinai were occupied from Jordan, Syria and Egypt, respectively.
- War of Attrition (1969-1970) - was a limited war fought between the Israeli military and forces of the Egyptian Republic, the USSR and the Palestine Liberation Organization from 1967 to 1970. It was initiated by the Egyptians as a way of recapturing the Sinai from the Israelis, who had been in control of the territory since the mid-1967 Six-Day War. The hostilities ended with a ceasefire signed between the countries in 1970 with frontiers remaining in the same place as when the war began.
- Yom Kippur War (October 1973) - Was fought from October 6 to October 26, 1973 by a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel as a way of recapturing part of the territories which they lost to the Israelis back in the Six-Day War. The war began with a surprise joint attack by Egypt and Syria on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Egypt and Syria crossed the cease-fire lines in the Sinai and Golan Heights, respectively, which had been captured by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War.
- First Lebanon War (1982) - It began in June 6, 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon. The Government of Israel ordered the invasion as a response to the assassination attempt against Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov by the Abu Nidal Organization and due to the constant terror attacks on northern Israel made by the terrorist organizations which resided in Lebanon. See also Operation Litani.
- Second Lebanon War (summer 2006) - Began as militaristic operation in response to the abduction of two Israeli reserve soldiers by the Hezbollah. The operation gradually strengthened to a wide confrontation. The principal parties were Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israeli military. The conflict started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect on 14 August 2006, though it formally ended on 8 September 2006 when Israel lifted its naval blockade of Lebanon.
| War | Years | Israeli Prime Minister | Defense Minister of Israel | Chief of Staff of the IDF | Participating countries | Losses on the Israeli side |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The War of Independence | 1947 - 1949 | David Ben-Gurion | David Ben-Gurion | Yaakov Dori | Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia | About 6,000 killed |
| The Sinai War | 1956 | Moshe Dayan | Egypt | 171 killed | ||
| Six-Day War | 1967 | Levi Eshkol | Moshe Dayan | Yitzhak Rabin | Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq | 776 killed |
| War of Attrition | 1969 - 1970 | Golda Meir | Haim Bar-Lev | Egypt and Jordan | 721 killed | |
| Yom Kippur War | 1973 | David Elazar | Egypt and Syria | About 2,300 killed | ||
| First Lebanon War | 1982 | Menachem Begin | Ariel Sharon | Rafael Eitan | Lebanon, Syria, Amal Movement and PLO | About 670 killed |
| Second Lebanon War | 2006 | Ehud Olmert | Amir Peretz | Dan Halutz | Lebanon (Hezbollah) | 163 killed |
[edit] Violent confrontations that were not recognized as wars
- The retribution operations (in the years 1950s) - originally held to get a high 'blood cost' in the arab side for every terror action made by the Fedayeen which would occasionaly infiltrate into Israel.
- Operation Litani (March 1978)- The 1978 South Lebanon conflict (code-named Operation Litani by Israel) was an invasion of Lebanon up to the Litani River carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in 1978.
- The fighting in Southern Lebanon (1985 - 2000) - held in order to maintain a security zone which prevented attacks on the northern border of Israel until Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000.
- The First Intifada (Erupted in December 1987) - was a mass Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule that began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
- The Gulf War (1991) - during the war the major cities in Israel were attacked by missiles which were launched from Iraq. Israel was abstained from reacting in militaristic means in response to the Iraqi aggression.
- The al-Aqsa Intifada (Erupted in September 2000) - the second massive Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule in the occupied territories.
* the IDF defined the violent confrontation in the southern Lebanon and in the occupied territories as a Low intensity conflict and refers to the participants from the Arab side as criminals or terrorists and not as enemy soldiers (so, for example, armed Palestinians which are caught do not face a trial and don't recive the same position as prisoners of war).
