History of Israel

Early History

It would be impossible to summarize the entire history of Israel in a few words.  This, after all, is a land that has been inhabited for tens of thousands of years. Evidence of agricultural activity in Jericho dates back to 8000 BC.  Around 2000 BC, Jews moved into this region renaming it Canaan after their ancestry (Canaanites).  Around this time, Israel stretched all the way from the Jordan River right up to the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan.   

In 61 BC, the Romans invaded Israel, divided the land into districts (example: Galilee, Judea, and Peraea) subjugated the region to Roman rule.  Tensions between the Jews and their rulers continued to rise until the Romans finally exiled all Jews from the region, renaming the area Palestine in 135 AD.  

Arrival of the Arabs

In AD 600, Arab armies invaded most of the Middle East, including Palestine.  The holy city of Jerusalem came under the control of the Caliph Omar who proceeded to build the Dome of the Rock at the Temple Mount site.  However, both Judaism and Islam remained popular during the early days of Arab rule. 

In 1099, the Crusaders invaded Palestine, capturing both Jaffa and Jerusalem and killing both Moslem and Jewish inhabitants of these cities.  The Jews were driven out of Jerusalem. Christian control continued until 1187 when King Saladin captured Jerusalem.  The Crusaders tried intermittently to recapture the Holy City over the next few years, and upon failing to do so, they left Palestine for good in 1291. 

In the middle of the 13th century, Arabic soldiers from Egypt (Mamluk) began populating Palestine in greater numbers, establishing an empire in the region.  Over the next century, Jewish immigrants from Mediterranean countries began to settle in Jerusalem and the outlying areas.  In 1517, after defeating the Mamluks in battle, the Ottomans took over Palestine.  The Ottoman kings provide refuge for those Jews fleeing persecution in the Spanish Inquisitions.  As a result, the local Jewish population began growing considerably.   

Zionism

By 1880, there were close to 25,000 Jews living in Palestine.  In fact, the Jews had never stopped returning to the land of their forefathers, even during their exile.  Around this time, Jewish society in Europe was experiencing a renaissance of progressive ideas. Zionism, for example, was elevated from wishful thinking and biblical prophesy to a tangible political philosophy.  The concept centered on the recreation of the Jewish homeland.  In 1897, Theodor Herzl organized the first Zionist Congress in Blasé, Switzerland firmly establishing the idea as a movement.  

Despite rapid steps in progressive ideology, anti-Semitism continued to grow throughout much of Europe.  The numbers of European Jews migrating to Palestine increased dramatically in the late nineteenth century.  New Jewish settlements like Tel Aviv were established, and by WWI, there were over 700,000 Jews in the region.   

When the Ottomans lost the First World War, the victors divided the Middle East amongst themselves, with the UK receiving most of Palestine and present-day Israel.  When the League of Nations tried to parcel out the remaining tracts of land, the British pressed for the establishment of a Jewish homeland as outlined in the Balfour Declaration.  Naturally, there was Arab opposition to these plans. But by 1920, the UK had already acquired sufficient land (including both sides of the Jordan River).  Britain agreed to help the Jews build a Jewish homeland in Palestine through the newly formed, Jewish Agency for Palestine. 

Meanwhile Arab opposition led to widespread rioting in Jaffa and Jerusalem. Fearing that unrestricted Jewish immigration would spark off racial tensions in the region, the British decided to partition the area with one section becoming a Jewish settlement. The UK began regulating immigration more closely, turning away many Jews that tried to escape during the early days of Hitler’s march across Europe. 

When news of the Holocaust began trickling in towards the end of the Second World War, renewed calls for a Zionist state began to surface.  Many Zionists blamed the UK’s immigration policies for the millions of Jewish lives lost during the war..  

Finally, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a plan to divide Palestine into two areas of equal size; one as an Arab state, the other as a Jewish state. Tensions arose almost from the beginning.  There were countless clashes between Arab and Jewish residents throughout the region during the early days of this partition.  Even after Israel established its independence in 1948, the region continued to remain a hotbed of activism, terrorism, and violence.  The land allotted for Palestinian rule continued to shrink as Israel’s economic and military might continued to benefit from US and UK patronage. 

It has only been through endless negotiations and international pressure that Israel has managed to achieve its current status of relative calm.  Although there still exists a lot of tension along the borders, Israel has blossomed into a medical tourism oasis in the region.

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