Peace between Israel and Egypt, and Israel and Jordan, was achieved in 1979 and 1994 respectively. Israel remains officially at a state of war with both Syria and Lebanon. The Arab Peace Initiative, proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and endorsed by the Arab League, promises full peace and normalized relations between all Arab countries and Israel in exchange for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

In 1993, Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization signed the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, commonly known as the Oslo Accords. This agreement was based on the 1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, and led to further US-mediated negotiations between the two sides. The negotiations have continued in an “on again, off again” manner to the present day.

Since 1967, Israel has maintained an occupation of the West Bank, which involves military rule over the Palestinians who live there. As part of the 1995 Oslo II Accord, the West Bank was divided in Area A (full Palestinian civil and security control), Area B (Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control), and Area C (full Israeli civil and security control). Although it withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, Israel maintains control over Gaza’s airspace, territorial waters, and movement of people and goods.

Point of View: Jewish Israeli

Jewish political violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict predates the establishment of the state of Israel. Future Israeli leaders, including Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir, helped plan terrorist attacks against British and Palestinian Arab targets. In more recent times, right wing Jewish extremists have attacked Palestinians, Israeli Arabs, and fellow Israelis in both Israel and the Occupied Territories.

Point of View: Palestinian
Palestinian political violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict predates the establishment of the state of Israel, and has continued ever since. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) led a terrorist campaign against Israel and Israeli targets until PLO chairman Yasser Arafat renounced terrorism in 1988. In more recent times, Palestinian terrorist acts have been carried out primarily by the Islamist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Israel began establishing civilian communities in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and Sinai Peninsula after capturing these territories in the 1967 war. Israel withdrew from Sinai in 1982 as part of its obligations under the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace agreement. Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005. The issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and their continued expansion remains central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The city of Jerusalem lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The old city of Jerusalem, which includes the Western Wall, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock, has often been a flashpoint for violence. East Jerusalem, which is majority Palestinian, was annexed by Israel in the wake of the 1967 war and officially united with (majority Jewish) West Jerusalem.