The dynamic between theArab world and theState of Israel has largely been marked by overt hostility, owing tothe latter's conflict with the Palestinian Arabs. Israel has foughtseveral wars with many Arab countries, and most members of theArab League do notrecognize Israeli sovereignty. Although social and political strife continues to dominatethe general atmosphere between the two sides, no Arab country has engaged in a direct military conflict with Israel since the1973 Arab–Israeli War. Israel has since made peace with a number of Arab countries, beginning withEgypt in 1979,Palestine in 1993, andJordan in 1994. In 2020, four Arab countries—Bahrain, theUnited Arab Emirates,Morocco, andSudan—recognized Israel andnormalized diplomatic relationships with it by signing theAbraham Accords. However, in spite of thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people,recognised Israel in 1993, violence between Israelis and Palestinians has persisted at a considerable scale and a final settlement has not yet been reached in theIsraeli–Palestinian peace process. Nevertheless, the PLO and all of the Arab countries that have signed peace treaties or normalization agreements have accordingly withdrawn from theArab League boycott of Israel. More recently, ade factoArab–Israeli alliance has emerged as a counterweight againstIran and the Iranian-ledAxis of Resistance; Iran's political and military activities throughout the region, namely as part of a proxy conflictwith Saudi Arabia since 1979 and another onewith Israel since 1985, have negatively impactedthe country's relationship with the Arab League.

The increased migration of Jews toOttoman Palestine began in the late 19th century and occurred in several waves. TheOttomans were largely tolerant of Jews. By 1888, there were just under 24,000 Jews living in Palestine, compared to nearly 550,000 Arabs.^[1] The mastermind of politicalZionism becameTheodor Herzl, who published his bookThe Jewish State in 1896. Due to widespreaddiscrimination against Jews, Herzl said there was a need for ahomeland for the Jewish people, and in the book he suggestedArgentina andPalestine, respectively, as possible locations for aJewish state. Herzl, on the advice of other Zionists, chose Palestine and offered to help theOttoman Sultan pay Ottoman national debts in return for land in Palestine, but the Sultan refused.^[2] After the defeat of the Ottomans inWorld War I (1914-1918), Palestine was administered by the British as theLeague of NationsMandate for Palestine, and with theBalfour Declaration, Britain agreed to the eventual establishment of a "national home" for the Jewish people. The Zionists intensified their settlement activities and there was increased violence from the Arab population, e.g., in theJaffa riots (1921). With theJewish Agency for Israel, founded in 1929, a quasi-governmental organization was formed to coordinate settlement activity, while the Arabs in Palestine remained less organized. AfterAdolf Hitler's rise to power inGermany, Jewish migration continued to increase and by 1945 there were over 500,000 Jews living in Palestine. The Arab leaderAmin al-Husseini had close contacts with theNazi regime and between 1936 and 1939 there was anArab revolt in Palestine against Jewish immigrants and the British. After the end ofWorld War II, manyHolocaust survivors came to Palestine and the British prepared to withdraw from Palestine as their position in the region had become untenable. As a result, riots broke out between Jews and the Arab population. TheUnited Nations adopted apartition plan for Palestine on November 29, 1947, which would have given the Arabs 42% of the land area of Palestine and established an international zone in Jerusalem. The partition plan was rejected by the Arab states and the Arabs in Palestine, while the Jews accepted it.^[1]

After the partition plan was announced, fighting broke out between Arab militias (including theHoly War Army) and Jewish military organizations (including theHaganah). David Ben-Gurion finally announcedIsrael's declaration of independence on May 14, 1948. In response, a coalition of the Arab states ofEgypt,Syria,Lebanon,Jordan, andIraq attacked the newly formed state. Despite the numerical superiority of the Arabs, they lost large areas to the Israelis such as the important port city ofHaifa and by the end of the war Israel controlled 78% of the area of Palestine included in the original partition plan. The War ended with the1949 Armistice Agreement, the conquered territories remained with Israel and theWest Bank was occupied by Jordan and theGaza Strip by Egypt. The war led to the expulsion of up to 700,000 Arabs from Israel and the conquered territories, who remained as refugees in neighboring Arab countries, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In Israel, however, anArab minority continued to exist thereafter and was granted civic rights. In the Arab countries, the defeat by Israel was perceived as a disaster and was calledNakba (النكبة 'the catastrophe'). A wave of anti-Semitism swept the Arab world and most Jews in Arab countries (totaling some 850,000)were forced to flee to Israel. In the following years, there were repeated Arab attacks on Israeli territory for the purpose of sabotage. Hundreds of Israelis were killed in the process.^[1]

The Arab defeat in the first Arab-Israeli War had strengthenedArab nationalism, and in Egypt the nationalistGamal Abdel Nasser came to power in 1952. He nationalized theSuez Canal, which had been owned by a Franco-British consortium, in July 1956. Because of the strategic importance of the Suez for international shipping, this was also a threat to Israel's national security. As a result, a British-French-Israeli military coalition occupied the Suez Canal. However, theSoviet Union and theUnited States opposed the occupation and threatened sanctions, so it had to be aborted and Nasser won a diplomatic victory that made him the political leader of the Arab world. Israel's position in the region remained precarious as a result. In response, Israel sought to establish close relations with the non-Arab states of theNear East, such asTurkey andIran underMohammad Reza Pahlavi. Thus, clandestine military cooperation was arranged with Turkey in 1958.^[3] The United States continued to strive for good relations with the Arab states, even thoughJohn F. Kennedy first allowed arms shipments to Israel in 1962, which made possible the latermilitary alliance between the two states.^[4] Concerned about its security, Israel began to intensify itsnuclear weapons program in the 1960s.

After the Arab states were embroiled in an internal conflict between the revolutionary states of Egypt, Syria and Iraq and the conservative monarchies ofSaudi Arabia and Jordan in the early 1960s, the situation for Israel intensified again in the mid-1960s. The militantPalestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964 with Egyptian support. In 1965, clashes between Israel and Syria intensified as the Syrians supported guerrilla attacks on Israel. Egypt escalated the situation with false accusations that Israel was massing troops on its border with the country and closed theStrait of Tiran to Israeli ships. Mediation efforts by the major powers failed, and on June 5, 1967, Israel started theSix-Day War with a pre-emptive strike by theIsraeli air force against Egyptian air bases to pre-empt a feared attack by Arab states. An attacking coalition of Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian troops was defeated by Israel in a triumphant military strike in a very short time. In the process, Israel was able to conquer the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, theGolan Heights and theSinai Peninsula. The Israelis then offered to return the Sinai and the Golan Heights in return for a peace treaty.^[1] The Arab states rejected the offer and passed theKhartoum Resolution on September 1, 1967. The resolution proclaimed the "three no's" (no peace, no negotiations, and no recognition) of the Arab states regarding Israel.^[5] Israel then began to build settlements in the conquered territories, which were illegal underinternational law, and denied political rights to the Palestinians in these territories. The PLO underYasser Arafat and other militant groups began increasing terrorist attacks on Israeli targets, including airplane hijackings and the1972 Munich Olympics massacre.^[1]

Egypt was not satisfied with the territorial status quo, and from 1968 onward there was an ongoing low-intensity conflict with Israel on the Sinai border. After diplomatic negotiations failed, Egypt underAnwar Sadat launched a surprise attack on Israel on the Jewish holiday ofYom Kippur in October 1973, starting theYom Kippur War. Syria joined the attack and attacked the Golan Heights, and other Arab states and the Soviet Union also supported the war. During the first two days, Egyptian and Syrian forces advanced, but after that the tide of the war turned in favor of the Israelis, who first had to mobilize their forces. The attack had taken the Israelis by surprise and, after two humiliating defeats, the war was seen as the Arabs' first military victory. Because of the U.S. support for Israel, the Arab states imposed an oil boycott against the West, which led to the1973 oil crisis. After the Israelis began advancing toward theNile Delta, a ceasefire agreement went into effect.

As a result, protracted secret negotiations ensued between the U.S., Egypt and the Israelis for a peace agreement. In 1977,Sadat visited Jerusalem and addressed theKnesset in a historic state visit by an Arab head of state. A year later, mediated by U.S. PresidentJimmy Carter, theCamp David Accords were concluded, in which Israel declared that it would recognize Palestinian rights and give autonomy to the Palestinian territories. The agreement formed the basis for the 1979Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, under which Egypt diplomatically recognized Israel in return for the return of the Sinai.^[1] This historic agreement, however, isolated Egypt among the other Arab states that rejected peace with Israel. Sadat was therefore later assassinated by Islamists, but his successorHusni Mubarak did not reverse the normalization of relations with Israel.

In 1982, Israelintervened in theLebanese Civil War, with Israeli forces advancing as far asBeirut to fight the PLO, which was active in Lebanon and which subsequently moved its headquarters toTunisia. After theassassination of LebaneseMaronite PresidentBachir Gemayel, Maronite militias murdered 900 Palestinians in theSabra and Shatila massacre, with Israeli support. The Israelis withdrew tosouthern Lebanon two years later after the1983 attack on the U.S. base in Beirut and U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan's withdrawal of American troops from Lebanon. Further peace negotiations were held in the 1980s, but initially without a breakthrough. TheFirst Intifada, a Palestinian uprising that would last several years, began in December 1987, with the radicalHamas establishing itself as a second force alongside the PLO in the Palestinian territories. In 1988, the PLO proclaimed thePalestinian Declaration of Independence and proclaimed theState of Palestine, which was immediately recognized by the Arab states. With the beginning of the 1990s, the Arab states lost their main arms supplier with thecollapse of the Soviet Union, and intra-Arab divisions opened up with theIraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. PLO leader Yasser Arafat supported the Iraqis, which led to the expulsion of 400,000 Palestinians from Kuwait after the country's liberation. After prolonged efforts, a breakthrough in negotiations finally occurred in 1993 with the start of theOslo peace process. This created thePalestinian Authority as the de facto government of thePalestinian territories, while the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist. It also facilitated theIsrael-Jordan Peace Treaty, making Jordan the third Arab state to diplomatically recognize Israel in 1994. However, after theassassination of Israeli Prime MinisterYitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist in 1995, the peace process stalled. Further efforts were made in the following years. In 2000, efforts to normalize Israeli relations with Syria failed because ofEhud Barak's refusal to fully withdraw from the Golan Heights. That same year, the implementation of atwo-state solution also failed. An Israeli offer was to give the Palestinians the Gaza Strip and 91% of the West Bank, while ceding a small portion of Israeli territory to a future Palestinian state. Arafat, however, rejected the offer in the2000 Camp David Summit.^[1]

With the start of theSecond Intifada and the departure of the committed peace brokerBill Clinton from office as U.S. president, thepeace process collapsed. Israel increasedsettlement construction in the West Bank, but withdrew from Gaza in 2005. After Hamas came to power in Gaza, Israel began to tighten theGaza blockade, with Egypt's assistance from 2008 onward.^[1] A rapprochement between Israel andSunni Arab states took place in the 2010s due to their shared fear ofShiite Iran and itsnuclear program. Unofficial cooperation occurred with Saudi Arabia in particular, with intelligence services from both countries assisting each other and officials regularly sharing intelligence.^[6] In June 2017, former Israeli Defense MinisterMoshe Jaalon stated, "We and the Arabs, the same Arabs who organized in a coalition in the Six-Day War to try to destroy the Jewish state, are in the same boat with us today....The Sunni Arab countries, apart from Qatar, are largely in the same boat with us, because we all see a nuclear Iran as the greatest threat to us all." The term Arab-Israeli conflict would be irrelevant now.^[7] On August 16, 2019, Israel's foreign ministerIsrael Katz made a public declaration about military cooperation with the UAE amidst rising tensions with Iran.^[8] Also, on the same day, the UAE for the first time established telephone links to Israel by unblocking direct dialling to Israel's +972 country code.^[9]

Following the 2023–present Gaza war, Arab–Israeli relations entered a complex phase characterized by both public criticism and discreet cooperation. While many Arab governments, including those in the Gulf, publicly condemned Israel’s military actions in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire, several reports indicated that behind the scenes, security and intelligence coordination between Israel and some Gulf Arab states quietly intensified.^[10]

TheIsrael–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement officially theAbraham Accords Peace Agreement: Treaty of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Full Normalization Between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel,^[11] was initially agreed to in a joint statement by theUnited States,Israel and theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE) on August 13, 2020, officially referred to as theAbraham Accords.^[12][a] The UAE thus became the thirdArab country, afterEgypt in 1979 andJordan in 1994, to agree to formally normalizeits relationship with Israel,^[13][14][15] as well as the firstPersian Gulf country to do so.^[16][17] Concurrently, Israel agreed to suspend plans forannexing parts of the West Bank.^[16][18] The agreement normalized what had long been informal but robust foreign relations between the two countries.^[19][20] The agreement was signed at theWhite House on September 15, 2020.^[21] At the same time,a treaty was signed between Israel andBahrain, whereby Bahrain also recognized Israel. Soon after,Sudan andMorocco normalized relations with Israel.^[22]

President Joe Biden said that Hamas’ attacks on Israel were intended in part to scuttle the potential normalization of the U.S. ally's relations with Saudi Arabia. He mentioned that Hamas attacks aimed to halt Israel-Saudi Arabia agreement.^[23]

Status of relations with Arab league member states.

Country	Diplomatic relations	Comment	Map
Algeria		Main article:Algeria–Israel relations No diplomatic relations.[24] The country also does not accept Israeli passports.
Bahrain	2020–present	Main article:Bahrain–Israel relations In September 2020, thenormalization agreement between Israel and Bahrain was signed, whereby Bahrain diplomatically recognized Israel. Both countries then exchanged ambassadors.
Comoros		Main article:Comoros–Israel relations No diplomatic relations.[24]
Djibouti		Main article:Djibouti–Israel relations No diplomatic relations.[24]
Egypt	1979–present	Main article:Egypt–Israel relations Egypt was at war with Israel four times before theIsraeli-Egyptian peace treaty of 1979 established a lasting peace between the two countries and diplomatic relations were established. Since then, the two countries have cooperated closely on security issues, for example regardingHamas in the Gaza Strip or the Sinai. However, diplomatic recognition of Israel was rejected by 85 percent of Egyptians in 2020.[25]
Iraq		Main article:Iraq–Israel relations No diplomatic relations. The country also does not accept Israeli passports and Iraqis cannot travel to Israel.[26]Iraqi Kurdistan, however, has better relations with Israel and allows Israelis to enter. Israel also trained Kurdish forces in northern Iraq.[27]
Jordan	1994–present	Main article:Israel–Jordan relations Jordan annexed the West Bank in the War of 1948 and lost this territory to Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967. Just under half of Jordan's population is descended from Palestinian refugees. Israel has maintained full diplomatic relations with Jordan since the signing of theIsrael-Jordan Peace Treaty in 1994.
Kuwait		Main article:Israel–Kuwait relations No diplomatic relations. In response toDonald Trump's 2020 announcement that Kuwait could be the next Arab country to recognize Israel, Kuwait rejected the claim, stating, "Kuwait will be the last country to recognize Israel".[28]
Lebanon		Main article:Israel–Lebanon relations No diplomatic relations.[24] The country also does not accept Israeli passports. Israel intervened in the Lebanese Civil War in 1982 and waged war againstHezbollah in the2006 Lebanon War. Both countries resolved theirmaritime border dispute in 2022.
Libya		Main article:Israel–Libya relations No diplomatic relations.[24] Under the rule ofMuammar Gaddafi (1969–2011), Libya supported militant Palestinian groups and terrorism against Israel.[29]
Morocco	1994–2000, 2020–present	Main article:Israel–Morocco relations After the start of theOslo Peace Process, the two countries grew closer. However, in October 2000, the Israeli representative office was closed and relations were suspended. On December 10, 2020, an agreement to normalize relations was announced.
Mauritania	1999–2010	Main article:Israel–Mauritania relations Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1999.[30] After the start of theGaza War (2008–2009) Mauritania broke off diplomatic relations and expelled the Israeli ambassador.[31]
Oman	1996–2000	Main article:Israel–Oman relations No diplomatic relations.[24] Oman accepts Israeli passports only for transit, not for entry. Establishment of relations to some extent in January 1996. Closure of the Israeli representative office and suspension of relations in October 2000 during theSecond Intifada.
Palestine		Main article:Israel–Palestine relations Still unresolvedIsraeli-Palestinian conflict. A large proportion of Palestinians were expelled from Israel during the War of 1948 and Israel refused the right of return. Gaza and the West Bank came under Israeli control in 1967 as a result of theSix-Day War. TheOslo Peace Process created thePalestinian Authority and the PLO recognized Israel, but a settlement of the conflict through a two-state solution failed. There have been repeated uprisings by the Palestinians, while Israel has continued to act as an occupying power, building settlements that threaten the future implementation of a two-state solution. Israel has largely cooperative relations withFatah in the West Bank, but hostile relations withHamas in the Gaza Strip.
Qatar		Main article:Israel–Qatar relations No diplomatic relations. In April 1996, Qatar and Israel agreed to exchange trade representations. The representations was closed in February 2009 because ofIsraeli attacks on Gaza. Israeli passports are not accepted by Qatar. Only during the2022 FIFA World Cup were Israelis allowed to enter the country.[32] Qatar is a major financial supporter of the Palestinian Sunni Islamic fundamentalist groupHamas.[33]
Saudi Arabia		Main article:Israel–Saudi Arabia relations No diplomatic relations. The country also does not accept Israeli passports. However, there is informal cooperation between the two countries on security policy. Negotiations have been held on normalizing diplomatic relations. Saudi Arabia, however, demands the implementation of a two-state solution for full normalization of relations.[34]
Somalia		Main articles:Israel–Somalia relations andIsrael–Somaliland relations No diplomatic relations.[24]
Sudan	2020–present	Main article:Israel–Sudan relations Through anagreement in 2020, Sudan recognized Israel.
Syria		Main article:Israel–Syria relations No diplomatic relations.The country also does not accept Israeli passports. Both countries have been in a state of war three times.Syria's relations with Israel are very poor due to Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights and Syria's close ties with the anti-Israel militant group Hezbollah and theIslamic Republic of Iran. In 2000, a normalization of relations failed because of Israel's refusal to fully return the Golan Heights.
Tunisia	1994–2000	Main article:Israel–Tunisia relations Relations were established during the Oslo peace process. Tunisia broke off relations again in October 2000 during theSecond Intifada.
United Arab Emirates	2020–present	Main article:Israel–UAE relations Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced the establishment of diplomatic relations on August 13, 2020. In July 2021, the United Arab Emirates officially opened an embassy in Israel, becoming only the third majority-Arab nation to maintain full diplomatic relations with Israel. The two countries also cooperate on security policy and want to deepen their economic ties. The first direct commercial flight from Israel to the UAE took place on August 31, 2020,[35] and the first ship carrying cargo from the United Arab Emirates to Israel entered thePort of Haifa on October 12.[36]
Yemen		Main article:Israel–Yemen relations No diplomatic relations.[24] The country also does not accept Israeli passports.

• Arab–Israeli alliance
• Arab League and the Arab–Israeli conflict
• Foreign relations of the Arab League
• Foreign relations of Israel
• UAE–Israel land corridor

Wikiquote has quotations related toArab–Israeli relations.

• Full text of the Israel–United Arab Emirates agreement
• Video of the event: Abraham Accords agreement between UAE, Bahrain and Israel, The Hill (YouTube)

• Multilateral relations of Israel
• Foreign relations of the Arab League
• Arab–Israeli peace process
• Middle East peace efforts

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Wikipedia extended-confirmed-protected pages
• Articles with hatnote templates targeting a nonexistent page