Robin Moss
A History of Israel’s Conflict(s): 1949-1973

Since before its founding, and right up to today, Israel has been defined by conflict. In this series, we try to tell the story of Israel’s multiple fights against its multiple enemies — “conflicts within a conflict” — in as fair-minded and non-tendentious a way as possible. Everything about the conflict is contested, even down to the very name! (Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Israeli-Arab conflict? Conflict in the Middle East? Israel’s conflict against the terrorists?) So we will tread carefully, try to engage with multiple perspectives, and hope to end up with more knowledge and a greater depth of understanding of this most divisive of conflicts.

The newly established State of Israel found itself in a complex and chaotic situation. Having fought a war of survival at its very outset, it now faced multiple adversaries whilst also trying desperately and heroically to build a society as waves of traumatised Jews from around the world landed on its shores. Three wars—in 1956, 1967, and 1973—showed the heights of Israel’s military prowess and the depths of Israel’s depression when its self-confidence was shattered.