Immediately after Israel declared its independence, a coalition of Arab states invaded Israel, starting the first Arab-Israeli War. Israel prevailed, and conquered territories beyond those claimed in the original UNSCOP partition. Israel gained control of 77% of Palestinian territories and the remainder was divided between Jordan and Egypt (Beinin & Hajjar). Thus, the UNSCOP proposal for a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict was dismissed and a Palestinian state was never created: leading to the subsequent decades of resentment and violence throughout the entire Middle East. Jewish residents of Arab countries throughout the region were persecuted violently and most fled to Israel. Palestinians were forced into refugee camps. Palestinians living in Israel are Israeli citizens but experience systematic discrimination (Beinin & Hajjar).

The conflict in the Middle East escalated further as Egyptian leader Gamal Abder Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal and restricted Israeli movement through it. By also joining military forces with Syria, Egypt seemed to be taking a particularly aggressive anti-Israel stance. In 1956 Israel responded by invading the Sinai Peninsula, aided by the French and British. Although Israel initially secured capture of the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip, international pressure forced Israel to rescind its claims ("The Arab-Israeli Conflict").

Syrian and Egyptian aggression continued against Israel. The formation of the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLO) further aggravated regional tensions. In 1967, Israel launched a preemptive strike on multiple fronts. The June 1967 war lasted only six days, during which Israel successfully captured the West Bank from Jordan, reclaimed the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, and annexed the Golan Heights from Syria. From then on, Israel's borders have been referred to in terms of pre-1967 and post-1967 boundaries. Arab-Israeli conflict has intensified since the Six Day War and peace has eluded the region in spite of numerous attempts at resolutions championed by the...

Many if not most Arab leaders do not recognize the state of Israel, hindering peace negotiations.
In 1979, the United States spearheaded negotiations between Israel and Egypt during the Camp David Accords. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat agreed to recognize the state of Israel in exchange for the return of the Sinai Peninsula. In 1993, Jordan and Israel reached a peace negotiation after the Oslo Accords. The Oslo Accords also encouraged mutual recognition between the PLO and Israel, but skirmishes, terrorist attacks, and outright warfare continue to erupt periodically. Israel has proclaimed intentions to either scale down Jewish settlements in the West Bank or withdraw entirely but efforts seem stalemated. Recent efforts show some hope for an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.

The only reasonable way to end the Arab-Israeli conflict is to create a Palestinian State. Unfortunately, the boundaries of that state remain in dispute. Israel must be willing to surrender some of its territories, and anti-Israeli terrorist organizations must be squelched systematically. The possibility of creating an international zone in parts of Israel would also allow for zones of neutrality. Both Israeli and Arab points-of-view are valid, and both sides share joint complicity for the problems plaguing the Middle East. Concerted efforts to dismantle terrorist organizations will help stabilize the region too.