On 14 May 1948, Israel proclaimed its independence. Less than 24 hours later, the regular armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq invaded the country, forcing Israel to defend the sovereignty it had regained in its ancestral homeland.

During the first months of 1949, direct negotiations were conducted under UN auspices between Israel and each of the invading countries (except Iraq which refused to negotiate with Israel), resulting in armistice agreements which reflected the situation at the end of the fighting. Accordingly, the coastal plain, Galilee and the entire Negev were within Israel's sovereignty, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) came under Jordanian rule, the Gaza Strip came under Egyptian administration, and the city of Jerusalem was divided, with Jordan controlling the eastern part, including the Old City, and Israel the western sector.

The war over, Israel focused on building the state which the people had struggled so long and so hard to regain. The first 120-seat Knesset (parliament) went into session following national elections (25 January 1949) in which nearly 85 percent of all eligible voters cast their ballots. Two of the people who had led Israel to statehood became the country's leaders: David Ben-Gurion,, head of the Jewish Agency, was chosen as the first prime minister; and Chaim Weizmann, head of the World Zionist Organization, was elected by the Knesset as the first president. On 11 May 1949, Israel took its seat as the 59th member of the United Nations.

In accordance with the concept of the 'ingathering of the exiles' which lies at the heart of Israel's raison d'être, the gates of the country were thrown open, affirming the right of every Jew to come to the country and, upon entry, to acquire citizenship. In the first four months of independence, some 50,000 newcomers, mainly Holocaust survivors, reached Israel's shores. By the end of 1951, a total of 687,000 men, women and children had arrived, over 300,000 of them refugees from Arab lands, thus doubling the Jewish population.

The economic strain caused by the War of Independence and the need to provide for a rapidly growing population required austerity at home and financial aid from abroad. Assistance extended by the United States government, loans from American banks, contributions of diaspora Jews and postwar German reparations were used to build housing, mechanize agriculture, establish a merchant fleet and a national airline, exploit available minerals, develop industries and expand roads, telecommunications and electricity networks.

Towards the end of the first decade, the output of industry doubled as did the number of employed persons, with industrial exports increasing four-fold. Vast expansion of areas under cultivation had brought about self-sufficiency in the supply of all basic food products except meat and grains, while some 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares) of mostly barren land were afforested and trees were planted along almost 500 miles (800 km.) of highway.

The educational system, which had been developed by the Jewish community in the pre-state period and now included the Arab sector, was greatly expanded. School attendance became free and compulsory for all children aged 5-14 (since 1978 it has been mandatory to age 16 and free to age 18). Cultural and artistic activity flourished, blending Middle Eastern, North African and Western elements, as Jews arriving from all parts of the world brought with them the unique traditions of their own communities as well as aspects of the culture prevailing in the countries where they had lived for generations. When Israel celebrated its 10th anniversary, the population numbered over two million.

The years of state-building were overshadowed by serious security problems. The 1949 armistice agreements had not only failed to pave the way to permanent peace, but were also constantly violated. In contradiction to the UN Security Council resolution of 1 September 1951, Israeli and Israel-bound shipping was prevented from passing through the Suez Canal; the blockade of the Straits of Tiran was tightened; incursions into Israel of terrorist squads from neighArab countries for murder and sabotage occurred with increasing frequency; and the Sinai peninsula was gradually converted into a huge Egyptian military base.

Upon the signing of a tripartate military alliance by Egypt, Syria and Jordan (October 1956), the imminent threat to Israel's existence was intensified. In the course of an eight-day campaign, the IDF captured the Gaza Strip and the entire Sinai peninsula, halting 10 miles (16 km.) east of the Suez Canal. A United Nations decision to station a UN Emergency Force (UNEF) along the Egypt-Israel border and Egyptian assurances of free navigation in the Gulf of Eilat led Israel to agree to withdraw in stages (November 1956 - March 1957) from the areas taken a few weeks earlier. Consequently, the Straits of Tiran were opened, enabling the development of trade with Asian and East African countries as well as oil imports from the Persian Gulf.

During Israel's second decade (1958-68), exports doubled, and the GNP increased some 10 percent annually. While some previously imported items such as paper, tires, radios and refrigerators were now being manufactured locally, the most rapid growth took place in the newly-established branches of metals, machinery, chemicals and electronics. Since the domestic market for home-grown food was fast approaching the saturation point, the agricultural sector began to grow a larger variety of crops for the food processing industry as well as fresh produce for export. A second deep-water port was built on the Mediterranean coast at Ashdod, in addition to the existing one at Haifa, to handle the increased volume of trade.

In Jerusalem, a permanent home for the Knesset was built, and facilities for the Hebrew University and the Hadassah Medical Center were constructed on alternate sites to replace the original buildings on Mount Scopus, which had to be abandoned after the War of Independence. At the same time, the Israel Museum was established with the aim of collecting, conserving, studying and exhibiting the cultural and artistic treasures of the Jewish people.

Israel's foreign relations expanded steadily, as close ties were developed with the United States, British Commonwealth countries, most western European states, nearly all the countries of Latin America and Africa, and some in Asia. Extensive programs of international cooperation were initiated, as hundreds of Israeli physicians, engineers, teachers, agronomists, irrigation experts and youth organizers shared their know-how and experience with people in other developing countries. In 1965 ambassadors were exchanged with the Federal Republic of Germany, a move which had been delayed until then because of the Jewish people's bitter memories of the crimes committed against them during the Nazi regime (1933-45). Vehement opposition and public debate preceded normalization of relations between the two countries.

1967 Six-Day War

At the end of six days of fighting, previous cease-fire lines were replaced by new ones, with Judea, Samaria, Gaza, the Sinai peninsula and the Golan Heights under Israel's control. As a result, the northern villages were freed from 19 years of recurrent Syrian shelling; the passage of Israeli and Israel-bound shipping through the Straits of Tiran was ensured; and Jerusalem, which had been divided under Israeli and Jordanian rule since 1949, was reunified under Israel's authority.

After the war, Israel's diplomatic challenge was to translate its military gains into a permanent peace based on UN Security Council Resolution 242,, which called for acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every state in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force. However, the Arab position, as formulated at the Khartoum Summit (August 1967) called for no peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel and no recognition of Israel. In September 1968, Egypt initiated a 'war of attrition', with sporadic, static actions along the banks of the Suez Canal, which escalated into full-scale, localized fighting, causing heavy casualties on both sides. Hostilities ended in 1970 when Egypt and Israel accepted a renewed cease-fire along the Suez Canal.

Three years of relative calm along the borders were shattered on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), the holiest day of the Jewish year, when Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated surprise assault against Israel (6 October 1973), with the Egyptian army crossing the Suez Canal and Syrian troops penetrating the Golan Heights. During the next three weeks, the Israel Defense Forces turned the tide of battle and repulsed the attackers, crossing the Suez Canal into Egypt and advancing to within 20 miles (32 km.) of the Syrian capital, Damascus. Two years of difficult negotiations between Israel and Egypt and between Israel and Syria resulted in disengagement agreements, according to which Israel withdrew from parts of the territories captured during the war.

The international boundary line with Lebanon has never been challenged by either side. However, when the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) redeployed itself in southern Lebanon after being expelled from Jordan (1970) and perpetrated repeated terrorist actions against the towns and villages of northern Israel (Galilee), which caused many casualties and much damage, the Israel Defense Forces crossed the border into Lebanon (1982). "Operation Peace for Galilee" resulted in removing the bulkof the PLO's organizational and military infrastructure from the area. For the next 18 years, Israel maintained a small security zone in southern Lebanon adjacent to its northern border to safeguard its population in Galilee against attacks by hostile elements.

Arab and Palestinian terrorism against Israel existed for decades prior to the establishment of the State of Israel and since then. Thousands of terrorist attacks which resulted in the death and injury of Israeli civilians occurred during the two decades preceding the 1967 Six Day War. The establishment of the PLO in 1964 put it at the forefront of this terrorist campaign.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the various terrorist organizations under the PLO launched numerous attacks inside Israel and abroad. One of the most notorious attacks was the murder of the Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. In spite of the Palestinian commitment made in 1993 to renounce terrorism, thus providing the basis for the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, terrorist attacks nonetheless continued, and have severely intensified since September 2000, resulting in the death of hundreds of Israeli civilians and the wounding of thousands.

The 1977 Knesset elections brought the Likud bloc (a coalition of right-wing and centrist parties) to power, ending almost 30 years of Labor party dominance. The new prime minister, Menachem Begin, reiterated the commitment of all previous prime ministers to strive for permanent peace in the region and called upon the Arab leaders to come to the negotiating table.

The cycle of Arab rejections of Israel's appeals for peace was broken with the visit of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem (November 1977), followed by negotiations between Egypt and Israel under American auspices. The resulting Camp David Accords (September 1978) contained a framework for a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, including a detailed proposal for self-government for the Palestinians.

On 26 March 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in Washington, DC, bringing the 30-year state of war between them to an end. In accordance with the terms of the treaty, Israel withdrew from the Sinai peninsula, exchanging former ceasefire lines and armistice agreements for mutually recognized international boundaries.

Three years of talks between Jordan and Israel, following the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference, culminated in a declaration by King Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (July 1994), which ended the 46-year state-of-war between their two countries. The Jordan-Israel peace treaty was signed at the Arava border crossing (near Eilat in Israel and Akaba in Jordan) on 26 October 1994, in the presence of American President Bill Clinton.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Israel absorbed over one million new immigrants, mainly from the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Ethiopia. The influx of so many new consumers as well as a large number of skilled and unskilled workers, boosted the economy into a period of accelerated expansion.

The government which came into power after the 1984 Knesset elections was made up of the two major political blocs - Labor (left/center) and Likud (right/center). It was replaced in 1988 by a Likud-led coalition, which was followed in 1992 by a coalition of Labor and smaller left-of-center parties.

The assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on 4 November 1995 by a Jewish extremist plunged the country into deep mourning for the soldier-statesman who had traveled from the battleground to lead the nation on the road to peace.

After the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, new elections were called in 1996. In direct elections for Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu came to power, and formed a Likud-led coalition. Less than three years later, his government was defeated. In 1999, Ehud Barak, leader of the One Israel party (left/center), was elected Prime Minister, and formed a coalition government; he resigned in December 2000. In February 2001 Ariel Sharon, Chairman of the Likud, was elected Prime Minister and formed a unity government, including a majority of political parties.

Each government worked towards the achievement of peace, economic development and immigrant absorption according to its own political convictions.

Since the signing of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty (1979), various initiatives were put forth by Israel and others to further the peace process in the Middle East. These efforts eventually led to the convening of the Madrid Peace Conference (October 1991), held under American and Soviet auspices, which brought together representatives of Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians. The formal proceedings were followed by bilateral negotiations between the parties and by multilateral talks addressing regional concerns.

Israel and the Palestinians: Following months of intensive behind-the-scenes contacts in Oslo between negotiators for Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), a Declaration of Principles (DOP) was formulated outlining self-government arrangements of the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Its signing, on 13 September 1993, was preceded by an exchange of letters between PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, in which the PLO renounced the use of terrorism, pledged to invalidate those articles in its Covenant which deny Israel's right to exist and committed itself to a peaceful resolution of the decades-long conflict. In response, Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people.

The DOP contained a set of mutually agreed general principles regarding a five-year interim period of Palestinian self-rule and a framework for the various stages of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The arrangements for Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area were implemented in May 1994; transfer of powers and responsibilities in the West Bank in the spheres of education and culture, health, social welfare, direct taxation and tourism was implemented three months later. The DOP and other agreements signed by Israel and the Palestinians culminated in the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement of September 1995.

This agreement included a broadening of Palestinian self-government by the means of an elected self- governing authority, the Palestinian Council (elected in January 1996) and continued redeployment of the IDF in the West Bank. The Agreement also set out the mechanism governing Israeli-Palestinian relations that would lead to a Final Status Agreement. Under the Interim Agreement the West Bank was divided into three types of areas:

Area A - comprising the main cities of the West Bank: full Palestinian Council responsibility for internal security and public order, as well as full responsibility for civil affairs. (The city of Hebron was subject to special arrangements set out in the Interim Agreement; the Protocol concerning the redeployment in Hebron was signed in January 1997.)

Area B - comprising small towns and villages in the West Bank: Palestinian Council responsibility for civil affairs (as in Area A) and maintenance of public order, while Israel retained overriding security responsibility to safeguard its citizens and to combat terrorism.

Area C - comprising all Jewish settlements, areas of strategic importance to Israel and largely unpopulated areas of the West Bank: full Israeli responsibility for security and public order, as well as civil responsibilities related to territory (planning and zoning, archeology, etc.). The Palestinian Council assumes responsibility with regard to all other civil spheres of the Palestinian population.

The timetable for the implementation of further redeployment phases, as specified in the Interim Agreement was revised on a number of occasions by the two sides, most notably in the Wye River Memorandum of October 1998. Following these agreed revisions, Israel completed the first and second phases of the Further Redeployment (FRD) process in March 2000. The third and final FRD is still under negotiation. As a result of the redeployments, over 18% of the West Bank is currently designated Area A and over 21% is designated Area B, with 98% of the Palestinian population of the West Bank under Palestinian authority.

Final Status negotiations between the parties, to determine the nature of the permanent settlement between Israel and the Palestinian entity, began as scheduled in May 1996. Suicide bomb attacks, perpetrated by Hamas terrorists in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv during 1996, darkened Israel's view of the peace process. A hiatus of three years followed and Final Status talks were resumed only after the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum (September 1999). Issues to be dealt with include: refugees, settlements, security matters, borders, Jerusalem and more. At the invitation of President Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Barak and Palestinian Authority Chairman Arafat attended a summit at Camp David in July 2000 to resume negotiations. The summit ended without an agreement being reached. However, a trilateral statement was issued, defining the agreed principles to guide further negotiations.

In September 2000, the Palestinians initiated a campaign of indiscriminate terror and violence, causing heavy loss of life and suffering to both sides. Numerous effors to end the violent confrontation and renew the peace process have failed due to the ongoing and escalating Palestinian terrorism supported by the Palestinian Authority. Israel accepted the vision presented in the speech by U.S. President Bush on June 24, 2002 for ending Palestinian terrorism, to be followed by the final settlement of all issues and peace.

Israel and Syria: Within the framework of the Madrid formula, talks between Israeli and Syrian delegations began in Washington and were held from time to time at ambassadorial level, with the involvement of high-ranking American officials.

Two rounds of Syrian-Israeli peace talks (December 1995, January 1996) focused on security and other key issues. Highly detailed and comprehensive in scope, the talks identified important areas of conceptual agreement and convergence for future discussion and consideration. Negotiations between Israel and Syria were renewed in January 2000 in Shepherdstown, US, after a standstill of more than three years. However, these negotiations did not bring about a breakthrough, nor did the meeting between President Clinton and President Assad in Geneva (March 2000) lead to renewed talks. There are no negotiations at present.

Israel and Lebanon: On May 23, 2000, Israel completed withdrawal of all military forces from the Security Zone in Southern Lebanon, in accordance with the Israel Government decision to implement UN Security Council resolution 425. Lebanon, unfortunately, has yet to comply fully with UNSC Resolution 425.

The multilateral talks were constituted as an integral part of the peace process, aimed at finding solfor key regional problems, while serving as a confidence building measure to promote development of normalized relations among the Middle East nations. Following the Moscow Multilateral Middle East Conference (January 1992), with the participation of 36 countries and international organizations, the delegations broke up into five working groups dealing with specific areas of common regional concern (environment, arms control and regional security, refugees, water resources and economic development) which meet from time to time in various venues in the region.

The Steering Committee, comprised of representatives of key delegations and chaired by the US and Russia, coordinates the multilateral talks. Its most recent meeting was in Moscow, January 31 - February 1, 2000

Since the outbreak of Palestinian violence (September 2000), most of the activites in the multilateral track have been frozen.