The founding of the United Nations and the establishment of a Jewish state inside historic Palestine emerged amid a shifting postwar framework. After World War II, the United Kingdom chose not to extend its mandate over territories it had assumed after the First World War, and London sought a way forward that would avoid further commitment. During that period, the British government’s support for a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine—first envisioned in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration—faced increasing pressure from rising Jewish and Arab national movements and a spate of clashes throughout the 1930s.
In 1947, the UN presented a plan to partition the land into separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem placed under international administration. Although no party found the proposal fully acceptable, it did offer a practical path that addressed some of the key aims of both sides. Moderate Zionist leaders, notably David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann, supported the Partition Plan, even as critics challenged them. The Arab leadership rejected sharing the territory, leading to sharp regional tensions that prevented a Palestinian state from emerging at that time.
What followed is widely documented: within a year of the state’s declaration, neighboring Arab states—Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon—fought Israel in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, a conflict that ended without a decisive regional settlement. The 1967 Six-Day War dramatically reshaped the map, with Israel expanding to include the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but the area later came under Hamas control following a brief conflict with rival Palestinian factions. A continuing blockade by land, air, and sea has kept Gaza under severe restrictions since then.
By the early 2000s, efforts to resolve the conflict through diplomatic efforts such as the 2003 Road Map to Peace outlined by the United States faced substantial obstacles. Over the decades, political leadership in Israel has shifted, with various governments navigating a complex landscape of security concerns, regional dynamics, and internal political pressures. The rise of political forces on the right and the evolving stance of different parties have contributed to a climate where a two-state solution has become more challenging to realize in practice. In this environment, the implications of ongoing settlements, security measures, and political divisions continue to shape the paths that negotiations might take.
Scholarly and diplomatic assessments emphasize that durable peace requires addressing core issues such as mutual recognition, security assurances, the status of Jerusalem, and the rights and aspirations of both communities. The international community has repeatedly urged a negotiated settlement that would enable Israelis and Palestinians to coexist with recognized borders and genuine security. The historical record shows how political shifts, strategic calculations, and external pressures can influence the trajectory of this long-standing conflict, and it underscores the importance of approaching the situation with careful consideration of both narratives and rights on the ground.