Summary: Reading Time: 11 minutesThe most recent posts on this series looking at the History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have focused on what was occurring among the Palestinians in the late 1960s and 70s. I will continue with that story tomorrow but for today I want to pause and look at what took place in Israel during the 1970s. This will include the rise of Anwar Sadat and the Yom Kippur War, a central person and event that is part of <a href="http://www.theendofhistory.net/most_recent/podcast/revolution-in-israel/">the revolution that took place in Israel during this time</a>. That revolution had a significant impact on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<br> <br> The revolution, as I call it, within the Israeli government during this time period helped to further polarize and inflame the conflict. Due to the extremist actions that were taking place among the Palestinians and then also among the Israelis, things went from really bad to even worse in the history of the conflict by the 1980s. This is the story of the Israeli side of that worsening of conditions.<br> Israeli Hubris After the Six Days War <br> <br> After the Six Days War Israel was riding high. From a geopolitical perspective the nation was experiencing the greatest sense of strength and security they had encountered since the declaration of statehood in 1948. The Israeli victory in 1967 had been so overwhelming and absolute that it seemed no one in the Middle East could come close to rivaling Israel and so they had no need to fear any of their belligerent neighbors. Israel was the hegemon!<br> <br> What made this so real in the late 60s and early 70s was that, although it was not spoken of publicly, the Arab states realized this too. They might talk a big game when it came to the nation they saw as a colonial imposition in their region – but after 1967 they weren’t going to do anything about it.<br> <br> The Six Days War had ended the power of Nasser. I mentioned already in this story how he resigned from office after the truth of Egypt’s losses became public after the short war. The people of Egypt took to the streets and demanded he come back to office, which he did. But Nasser’s power was finished. He would never again be the strongman of the Arab states in the Middle East. In fact, three years later he died.<br> <br> The Rise of Anwar Sadat <br> <br> Nasser’s replacement was Anwar Sadat. Few imagined Sadat would amount to much of a leader when he assumed the office. He had always been the quiet one in Nasser’s shadow. There were whispers that his time as leader of Egypt might be short lived and might possibly even come to an end by way of a coup or assassination. As it turned out, Sadat’s critics would be the ones who were surprised. He would end up leaving far greater a mark on the history of Egypt and the Middle East than Nasser ever did.<br> To begin, Sadat wanted to end the fighting and tension between Egypt and Israel. If he could end it between Israel and all of the Middle East, fine; but as leader of Egypt he recognized it was time for a change. Egypt’s foreign policy and even its economy to some extent had been warped ever since World War 2 by the constant posture of war and belligerence with its nearest neighbor. As Sadat saw things, it made no sense to continue the fight with Israel. It had been proven that Egypt could not defeat the Jewish state. Maintaining the threat of war was bad for Egypt’s economy, international relations and public policy.<br> <br> So Sadat began to quietly push for peace with Israel. The only problem, Israel had no interest in the peace that Sadat was offering. Sadat suggested a return to the pre-Six Days War borders. In other words, Israel would leave Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights which they had taken in the war.<br> <br> Why would Israel do this? If it was simply for the sake of being at peace with Egypt, they already had peace.
