Belfour Declaration
The Belfour Declaration by the British Government which controlled Palestine, details English support for a Jewish home setting the groundwork for the ultimate creation of the state of Israel.
1948
1948 War/Israel's Birth
Israel wins the first war against its Arab neighbors leading to the establishment of the state of Israel. The United States is the first country to recognize Israel in the United Nations.
1956
Suez Crisis
Israel, France, and Britain attack Egypt in October of 1956 after the Suez crisis but the US comes out against the war forcing United Nations intervention and an end to hostilities.
1967
Six-Day War
Israel fights its third war in the region against the armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria, and emerges victorious and in control of the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, Syria's Golan Heights, and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
1973
October/Yom Kippur War
Egypt and Syria attack Israel in October of 1973 in an attempt to reclaim lands lost in the Six-Day War. Israel initially suffers major losses until the United States arranged a massive airlift of weapons which helped Israel in its counteroffensive.
1978
Camp David Accords
President Jimmy Carter mediates negotiations between Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Israel's Menachem Begin leading to the Camp David Accords, the prerequisite to the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty.
1982
War of Lebanon
Israel gets explicitly involved in the Lebanese Civil War, attacking Syrian and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) forces. The United States mediates an agreement with the PLO to withdrawal which leads to American troop deployment in Lebanon.
1991-Current
The Peace Process
The United States plays a mediating role between Israel and its neighboring Arab countries, leading to the Madrid Conference (1991), Oslo Process/Accords (1993), the Israeli-Jordanian Peace Treaty (1994), and most recently the Roadmap For Peace.
2006
War with Lebanon
Israel attacks Lebanon in retaliation for the Hezbollah kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. Questions arose about whether or not Israel used American supplied weapons during the conflict.