Palestine after WW1

After the First World War, Britain governed Palestine under a League of Nations Mandate. Tension grew between the Jewish and Arab communities living there.

• Jewish immigration to Palestine rose, especially after the Holocaust, as many survivors sought a homeland.
• Arab communities feared being displaced from land they had long lived on.
• Violence increased and Britain struggled to keep order, eventually handing the problem to the United Nations.

Neutral note: both communities had deep claims and fears. This mini-lesson sticks to documented events and dates, and does not take sides.

The UN plan to divide Palestine

In 1947 the United Nations proposed the Partition Plan — dividing Palestine into two separate states, one Jewish and one Arab, with Jerusalem under international control.

• Jewish leaders accepted the plan.
• Arab states rejected it, seeing it as unfair.
• With no agreement, fighting broke out and Britain prepared to withdraw.

The 1947 plan is a key starting point: it set out the idea of "two states", but because it was rejected by Arab states, it could not be peacefully carried out.

What did the UN propose?

The State of Israel is declared

On 14 May 1948 the State of Israel was declared. The next day, neighbouring Arab states invaded, beginning the first Arab–Israeli War (1948–49).

• Israel survived the war and ended up controlling more territory than the UN partition plan had proposed.
• Large numbers of Palestinians fled or were displaced — Palestinians call this the Nakba ("catastrophe").
• This created a long-lasting Palestinian refugee crisis that shaped later conflict.

Why it matters: 1948 is the pivotal year — it created Israel, produced the refugee question, and set the pattern of Arab–Israeli wars to come.

Which year?

The Suez Crisis

In 1956 Egypt's President Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal — taking control of the vital waterway from its British and French owners.

• Britain, France and Israel attacked Egypt to seize the canal back.
• US and Soviet pressure forced them to withdraw.
• It was a humiliation for Britain and France, and a big boost for Nasser and Arab nationalism.

What happened at Suez?

Name the leader

The Six-Day War

In June 1967, amid rising tension, Israel launched a pre-emptive strike against its Arab neighbours. Israel won a swift and dramatic victory in just six days.

• Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip (from Egypt);
• the West Bank and East Jerusalem (from Jordan);
• and the Golan Heights (from Syria).

This was a huge territorial change — and it created more Palestinian refugees and left Israel occupying land that became central to the later conflict.

What Israel captured in 1967

The Yom Kippur War

In October 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, hoping to win back land lost in 1967.

• Israel was caught off guard at first but recovered and held its ground.
• Arab oil producers (OPEC) responded with an oil embargo — the 1973 oil crisis — which hurt Western economies.
• Both superpowers (USA and USSR) became closely involved, raising Cold War tension.

The shock of 1973 and the oil crisis pushed both sides — and the USA — towards seeking a negotiated peace.

The 1973 war

The PLO and the Palestinians

Alongside the wars, Palestinian nationalism grew. The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was founded in 1964 and, from the late 1960s, was led by Yasser Arafat.

• In the 1970s, some Palestinian groups used hijackings and terrorism to draw attention to their cause.
• From 1987, the First Intifada — a Palestinian uprising in the occupied territories — began.
• Over time the PLO moved towards seeking a negotiated settlement with Israel.

The Palestinian refugee question, created in 1948 and deepened in 1967, lay at the heart of the conflict throughout this period.

Event ↔ what happened

Tap an event on the left, then tap what happened on the right.

Egypt and Israel make peace

The first major breakthrough came between Egypt and Israel:

• The Camp David Accords (1978) were agreed by Egypt's Sadat and Israel's Begin, brokered by US President Carter.
• This led to the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty (1979) — the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab state.
• Egypt got back the Sinai; but Sadat was assassinated in 1981 by opponents of the peace.

Camp David showed that peace between Israel and an Arab neighbour was possible — but it did not solve the wider Palestinian question.

The Oslo Accords

The biggest step towards Israeli–Palestinian peace came in 1993. The Oslo Accords were agreed between Israel (PM Rabin) and the PLO (Arafat), brokered by US President Clinton.

• Israel and the PLO agreed mutual recognition.
• The plan set up limited Palestinian self-rule in parts of the occupied territories.
• In 1995, Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by an opponent of the peace process.

Oslo (1993) was a landmark — the first direct agreement between Israel and the PLO — but Rabin's assassination in 1995 showed how fragile the peace remained.

Who signed at Oslo?

Name the 1993 accords

Name the 1967 war

Timeline: 1945 → 1995

Put the events in order

Tap the events in the correct time order, from earliest to latest.

Handling a sensitive topic

This topic is contested — different people tell the story very differently. The exam rewards a balanced, evidence-based approach:

• Stick to documented events and dates. Facts like "Israel was declared in 1948" or "the Oslo Accords were 1993" are agreed.
• Recognise different perspectives. The same event (e.g. 1948) is seen as independence by one side and the Nakba by the other.

Interpretations differ: being able to explain why accounts differ — not just what happened — is exactly what the exam rewards.

Why 1948 matters

The essentials to remember

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