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Do not fill this in! ==== Peace process ==== {{main|Israeli–Palestinian peace process}} The [[1977 Israeli legislative election|1977 Knesset elections]] marked a major turning point in Israeli political history as [[Menachem Begin]]'s [[Likud]] party took control from the [[Labor Party (Israel)|Labor Party]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bregman|2002|pp=169–170}}: "In hindsight we can say that 1977 was a turning point ..."</ref> Later that year, Egyptian President [[Anwar El Sadat]] made a trip to Israel and spoke before the [[Knesset]] in what was the first recognition of Israel by an Arab head of state.{{sfn|Bregman|2002|pp=171–174}} Sadat and Begin signed the [[Camp David Accords]] (1978) and the [[Egypt–Israel peace treaty]] (1979).{{sfn|Bregman|2002|pp=186–187}} In return, Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula and agreed to enter negotiations over an autonomy for Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.{{sfn|Bregman|2002|pp=186–187}} On 11 March 1978, a PLO guerilla raid from Lebanon led to the [[Coastal Road massacre]]. Israel responded by launching an [[1978 South Lebanon conflict|invasion of southern Lebanon]] to destroy PLO bases. Most PLO fighters withdrew, but Israel was able to secure southern Lebanon until a [[United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon|UN force]] and the Lebanese army could take over. The PLO soon resumed its [[Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon|insurgency]] against Israel. In the next few years, the PLO infiltrated the south and kept up a sporadic shelling across the border. Israel carried out numerous retaliatory attacks. Meanwhile, Begin's government provided incentives for Israelis to [[Israeli settlements|settle]] in the [[Israeli occupation of the West Bank|occupied West Bank]], increasing friction with the Palestinians there.<ref>{{cite book|title=A history of the modern Middle East |last=Cleveland |first=William L. |year=1999 |publisher=Westview Press |isbn=978-0-8133-3489-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofmodernm00clev/page/356 356] |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmodernm00clev/page/356 }}</ref> The [[Jerusalem Law]] (1980) was believed by some to reaffirm Israel's 1967 annexation of Jerusalem by government decree, and [[UN Security Council Resolution 478|reignited international controversy]] over the [[Positions on Jerusalem|status of the city]]. No Israeli legislation has defined the territory of Israel and no act specifically included East Jerusalem therein.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lustick |first=Ian |year=1997 |title=Has Israel Annexed East Jerusalem? |journal=Middle East Policy |volume=V |issue=1 |pages=34–45 |issn=1061-1924 |oclc=4651987544 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4967.1997.tb00247.x |url=https://www.sas.upenn.edu/polisci/sites/www.sas.upenn.edu.polisci/files/Lustick_Has%20Israel%20Annexed%20Jerusalem_1997.pdf |access-date=1 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091120090306/http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol5/9701_lustick.asp |archive-date=20 November 2009 }}</ref> In 1981 Israel [[Golan Heights Law|effectively annexed]] the [[Golan Heights]].<ref name="bbc_golan_profile">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14724842 |title=Golan Heights profile |date=27 November 2015 |work=BBC News |access-date=6 January 2017 |archive-date=17 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617170912/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14724842 |url-status=live }}</ref> The international community largely rejected these moves, with the UN Security Council declaring both the Jerusalem Law and the Golan Heights Law null and void.<ref>{{cite book | last=Hillier | first=T. | title=Sourcebook on Public International Law | publisher=Routledge | year=1998 | isbn=978-1-135-35366-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DmuPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA242 | access-date=12 October 2021 | archive-date=19 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219071301/https://books.google.com/books?id=DmuPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA242#v=onepage&q&f=false | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1=Monacella | first1=R. | last2=Ware | first2=S.A. | title=Fluctuating Borders: Speculations about Memory and Emergence | publisher=RMIT University Press | year=2007 | isbn=978-1-921166-48-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7r4wd57FqIC&pg=RA1-PA62 | access-date=12 October 2021 | archive-date=19 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219071154/https://books.google.com/books?id=q7r4wd57FqIC&pg=RA1-PA62#v=onepage&q&f=false | url-status=live }}</ref> Several waves of [[Ethiopian Jews]] [[Aliyah from Ethiopia|immigrated]] to Israel since the 1980s, while between 1990 and 1994, [[1990s Post-Soviet aliyah|immigration from the post-Soviet states]] increased Israel's population by twelve percent.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Economics/Papers/1996/pdfs/96-28.pdf |journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics |date=November 2001 |title=The Impact of Mass Migration on the Israeli Labor Market |last=Friedberg |first=Rachel M. |pages=1373–1408 |issue=4 |doi=10.1162/003355301753265606 |volume=116 |hdl=10419/102605 |citeseerx=10.1.1.385.2596 |access-date=14 August 2012 |archive-date=23 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923025501/http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Economics/Papers/1996/pdfs/96-28.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> On 7 June 1981, during the [[Iran–Iraq War]], the Israeli air force [[Operation Opera|destroyed]] Iraq's sole [[Osirak|nuclear reactor]] under construction just outside [[Baghdad]], to impede Iraq's nuclear weapons programme. Following a series of PLO attacks in 1982, Israel [[1982 Lebanon War|invaded]] Lebanon to destroy the PLO bases.{{sfn|Bregman|2002|p=199}} In the first six days, the Israelis destroyed the military forces of the PLO in Lebanon and decisively defeated the Syrians. An Israeli government inquiry—the [[Kahan Commission]]—would later hold Begin and several Israeli generals indirectly responsible for the [[Sabra and Shatila massacre]] and hold [[Defense Minister of Israel|Defense minister]] [[Ariel Sharon]] as bearing "personal responsibility".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schiff |first1=Ze'ev |author-link=Ze'ev Schiff |last2=Ehud |first2=Yaari |author-link2=Ehud Yaari |title=Israel's Lebanon War |year=1984 |page=[https://archive.org/details/israelslebanonwa0000schi/page/284 284] |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0-671-47991-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/israelslebanonwa0000schi}}</ref> Sharon was forced to resign.<ref>{{cite book |last=Silver |first=Eric |title=Begin: The Haunted Prophet |publisher=[[Random House]] |year=1984 |page=[https://archive.org/details/beginhauntedprop00silv/page/239 239] |isbn=978-0-394-52826-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/beginhauntedprop00silv}}</ref> In 1985, Israel responded to a Palestinian [[Larnaca yacht killings|terrorist attack]] in [[Cyprus]] by [[Operation Wooden Leg|bombing]] the PLO headquarters in Tunisia. Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon in 1986, but maintained a [[Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon|borderland buffer zone]] in southern Lebanon until 2000, from where Israeli forces [[South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)|engaged in conflict]] with [[Hezbollah]]. The [[First Intifada]], a Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule,<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict |last=Tessler |first=Mark A. |year=1994 |publisher=Indiana University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofisraeli00tess_0/page/677 677] |isbn=978-0-253-20873-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofisraeli00tess_0}}</ref> broke out in 1987, with waves of uncoordinated demonstrations and violence in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Over the following six years, the Intifada became more organized and included economic and cultural measures aimed at disrupting the Israeli occupation. More than a thousand people were killed.<ref>{{harvnb|Stone|Zenner|1994|p=246}}. "Toward the end of 1991 ... were the result of internal Palestinian terror."</ref> During the 1991 [[Gulf War]], the PLO supported [[Saddam Hussein]] and Iraqi missile [[Iraqi rocket attacks on Israel|attacks against Israel]]. Despite public outrage, Israel heeded American calls to refrain from hitting back.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7DB173EF93AA35751C1A967958260 |title=After 4 Years, Intifada Still Smolders |work=The New York Times |date=9 December 1991 |access-date=28 March 2008 |last=Haberman |first=Clyde |archive-date=17 July 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717180855/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/09/world/after-4-years-intifada-still-smolders.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn |Mowlana |Gerbner |Schiller |1992 |p=111}} [[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Foreign Min. Peres and King Hussein.jpg|thumb|[[Shimon Peres]] (left) with [[Yitzhak Rabin]] (center) and King [[Hussein of Jordan]] (right), prior to signing the [[Israel–Jordan peace treaty]] in 1994]] In 1992, [[Yitzhak Rabin]] became prime minister following [[1992 Israeli legislative election|an election]] in which his party called for compromise with Israel's neighbours.{{sfn|Bregman|2002|p=236}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bc.edu/dam/files/research_sites/cjl/texts/cjrelations/resources/education/Israel_Palestine/cold_war_ends.htm |publisher=[[Boston College]] |title=From the End of the Cold War to 2001 |access-date=20 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827235024/http://www.bc.edu/dam/files/research_sites/cjl/texts/cjrelations/resources/education/Israel_Palestine/cold_war_ends.htm |archive-date=27 August 2013 }}</ref> The following year, [[Shimon Peres]] on behalf of Israel, and [[Mahmoud Abbas]] for the PLO, signed the [[Oslo Accords]], which gave the [[Palestinian National Authority]] (PNA) the right to govern [[West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord|parts of the West Bank]] and the Gaza Strip.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1990-2000/Oslo |publisher=U.S. Department of State |title=The Oslo Accords, 1993 |access-date=30 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122102530/http://history.state.gov/milestones/1990-2000/Oslo |archive-date=22 January 2010 }}</ref> The PLO also [[Israel–Palestine Liberation Organization letters of recognition|recognized]] Israel's right to exist and pledged an end to terrorism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/Israel-PLO%20Recognition%20-%20Exchange%20of%20Letters%20betwe |publisher=Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs |title=Israel–PLO Recognition – Exchange of Letters between PM Rabin and Chairman Arafat – Sept 9, 1993 |access-date=31 March 2010 |archive-date=16 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716184929/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/Israel-PLO%20Recognition%20-%20Exchange%20of%20Letters%20betwe |url-status=live }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=January 2023}} In 1994, the [[Israel–Jordan peace treaty]] was signed, making Jordan the second Arab country to normalize relations with Israel.<ref>{{harvnb|Harkavy|Neuman|2001|p=270}}. "Even though Jordan in 1994 became the second country, after Egypt to sign a peace treaty with Israel ..."</ref> Arab public support for the Accords was damaged by the continuation of Israeli settlements<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fmep.org/settlement_info/settlement-info-and-tables/stats-data/sources-of-population-growth-total-israeli-population-and-settler-population-1991-2003 |title=Sources of Population Growth: Total Israeli Population and Settler Population, 1991–2003 |access-date=20 March 2012 |publisher=Foundation for Middle East Peace |website=Settlements information |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826051148/http://www.fmep.org/settlement_info/settlement-info-and-tables/stats-data/sources-of-population-growth-total-israeli-population-and-settler-population-1991-2003 |archive-date=26 August 2013 }}</ref> and [[Israeli checkpoint|checkpoints]], and the deterioration of economic conditions.<ref>{{cite book|title=Negotiating Arab-Israeli peace: American leadership in the Middle East |last=Kurtzer |first=Daniel |author2=Lasensky, Scott |year=2008 |publisher=United States Institute of Peace Press |isbn=978-1-60127-030-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/negotiatingarabi0000kurt/page/44 44] |url=https://archive.org/details/negotiatingarabi0000kurt/page/44 }}</ref> Israeli public support for the Accords waned after [[List of Palestinian suicide attacks|Palestinian suicide attacks]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A history of the modern Middle East |last=Cleveland |first=William L. |year=1999 |publisher=Westview Press |isbn=978-0-8133-3489-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofmodernm00clev/page/494 494] |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmodernm00clev/page/494 }}</ref> In November 1995, Yitzhak Rabin [[assassination of Yitzhak Rabin|was assassinated]] by [[Yigal Amir]], a far-right Jew who opposed the Accords.<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel marks Rabin assassination |publisher=BBC News |date=12 November 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4431728.stm |access-date=12 May 2010 |archive-date=17 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117220054/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4431728.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> During [[Benjamin Netanyahu|Benjamin Netanyahu's]] premiership at the end of the 1990s, Israel agreed to [[Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron|withdraw]] from [[Hebron]],{{sfn|Bregman|2002|p=257}} though this was never ratified or implemented,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20151002002611/http://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/14/14 Hanne Eggen Røislien, "Living with Contradiction: Examining the Worldview of the Jewish Settlers in Hebron"], 2 October 2015 ''[[International Journal of Conflict and Violence]]'', Vol.1 (2) 2007, pp.169–184</ref> and signed the [[Wye River Memorandum]], giving greater control to the PNA.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://1997-2001.state.gov/www/regions/nea/981023_interim_agmt.html|publisher=[[U.S. Department of State]]|title=The Wye River Memorandum|date=23 October 1998|access-date=30 March 2010|archive-date=4 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110104074037/http://1997-2001.state.gov/www/regions/nea/981023_interim_agmt.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Ehud Barak]], [[1999 Israeli general election|elected]] Prime Minister in 1999, withdrew forces from Southern Lebanon and conducted negotiations with PNA Chairman [[Yasser Arafat]] and U.S. President [[Bill Clinton]] at the [[2000 Camp David Summit]]. Barak offered a plan for the establishment of a [[Palestinian state]], including the entirety of the Gaza Strip and over 90% of the West Bank with Jerusalem as a shared capital.{{sfn|Gelvin|2005|p=240}} Each side blamed the other for the failure of the talks. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page