The+Arab-Israeli+Dispute

During the late 1950s and 1960s, the dispute between Israel and other states in the Middle East escalated. In 1967, **Nasser** put a blockade against Israeli shipping throughout the Gulf of Aqaba.

Fearing attack, in June of 1967, Israel launched air strikes against Egypt and several of its Arab neighbors. Israeli warplanes took out most of the Egyptian air force. Israeli armies broke the blockade and took over the Sinai Peninsula. Israel seized territory on the West Bank of the Jordan River, occupied by Jerusalem and took control of the Golan Heights. During this Six-Day War, Israel tripled the size of its territory. Another million Palestinians now lived inside the new borders of Israel and most of them were on the West Bank.

Over the next few years, Arab states continued their demand of the return of the occupied territories. **Nasser** died in 1970 and **Anwar el-Sadat** filled his office. In 1974, forces led by Sadat launched a new attack against Israel. The UN negotiated a cease-fire in 1974.

However, the war was having indirect results in Western nations. A number of Arab oil producing states had formed the **Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries** (OPEC) in 1960 to gain control of oil prices. During the war in 1973, some OPEC nations announced large increases in the price of oil to foreign countries. The price hikes led to oil shortages and serious economic problems in the US and Europe.

**President Carter**, in 1977, began to push for a compromise peace between the Arabs and the Israelis. **Carter** met with **Sadat** of Egypt and Israeli Prime Minister Begin at Camp David in the US. The result was the Camp David Accords, an agreement to sign an Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. The treaty was signed by both Sadat and Begin and ended the state of war between the two nations. Many Arab countries still continued to refuse recognize Israel.