Rival national claims to the same land drove the conflict, while security fears set off each war. Management contained the wars but brought only a partial peace.
The core cause was nationalism over territory: two peoples claiming the same land. Decolonisation turned this into war when Britain left in 1948.
Security fears explain the timing of wars. Each side saw the other's moves as threats, as in May 1967. Economic interests, such as the Suez Canal and later oil, widened the conflict.
UN peacekeeping had real successes. UNTSO observers stayed from 1948, UNEF kept Sinai quiet from 1957 to 1967, and UNDOF has kept the Golan front quiet since 1974. But peacekeepers needed consent, as UNEF's exit in 1967 showed.
Diplomacy achieved most when the combatants wanted it. Bunche's armistices of 1949 and Kissinger's disengagement agreements of 1974-1975 stopped fighting. Camp David produced a lasting peace between Egypt and Israel.
Overall, management turned a series of wars into a partial peace by 1979, but it did not resolve the Palestinian question.
- Core cause
- Two national movements claiming the same land.
- Peacekeeping
- UNTSO 1948, UNEF 1956-1967, UNEF II 1973-1979, UNDOF from 1974.
- Partial peace
- Egypt-Israel treaty 1979; the Palestinian question remains.
Worked example: Judging management
How effective was conflict management by 1979?
- Stopping wars: ceasefires in every war.
- Keeping the peace: long quiet periods under UNEF and UNDOF.
- Resolving the conflict: peace with Egypt only.
- Judgement: effective at containing, partly effective at resolving.
Watch out for this
Peacekeeping failed because wars happened in 1967 and 1973.
Peacekeeping kept fronts quiet for long periods. It could not stop states that chose war, because it depended on their consent.
Check your understanding
What does the end of UNEF in 1967 show?
- UN peacekeepers depended on the host state's consent.
- The UN was defeated in battle.
- The USA closed UNEF.