Since the founding of Israel in 1948, Israel and the Arabs have been at war starting with the 1948 Arab-Israel War. There have been a series of shooting wars including the 1967 War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

In both of these wars, the Israelis emerged victorious by the skin of their teeth and acquired territory that was used to launch the underlying attacks that started these wars. [Remember the fact that Israel ended up with MORE territory when folks begin to whisper that Israel needs to return to the pre-1967 borders, meaning Israel needs to return its conquered lands.]

It is important to know that Israel was the product of the United Nations 1947 Partition Plan for Palestine. This plan recommended three things:

 1. The creation of an independent Arab State;

 2. The creation of an independent Jewish State; and,

 3. The creation of an internationalized Jerusalem.

You may recognize that plan as the Two State Solution which continues to this day.

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