| State of Israel |
|---|
 |
This is an index of lists detailing military conflicts involvingIsrael. Since itsdeclaration of independence in May 1948, theState of Israel has fought various wars with its neighbouringArab states, two majorPalestinian Arab uprisings known as theFirst Intifada and theSecond Intifada (seeIsraeli–Palestinian conflict), anda broad series of other armed engagements rooted in theArab–Israeli conflict.
Israel has been involved in a number of wars and large-scale military operations, including:
Conflicts considered as wars by theIsraeli Ministry of Defense (as they werenamed by Israel insmall text) are marked inbold.
| Conflict | Combatant 1 | Combatant 2 | Results | Israeli commanders | Israeli losses | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Israeli Prime Minister | Defense Minister of Israel | Chief of Staff of the IDF | IDF forces | Civilians | ||||
| 1948 Palestine war War of Independence |  Yishuv(before14 May 1948)  Israel(after 14 May 1948) Before 26 May 1948: After 26 May 1948: Foreign volunteers: |  Arab Higher Committee(before15 May 1948)  Arab League(after 15 May 1948)
| Israeli victory
| David Ben-Gurion | Yaakov Dori | 4,074[7] | ~2,000[7] | |
| Suez Crisis Sinai War | Israel United Kingdom France |  Egypt | Victory
| Moshe Dayan | 231 | None | ||
| Six-Day War (1967) | Israel |  Egypt Syria Jordan Iraq[8]Minor involvement:  Lebanon[9] | Victory
| Levi Eshkol | Moshe Dayan | Yitzhak Rabin | 776–983 | 20 |
| War of Attrition (1967–1970) | Israel | Inconclusive | Golda Meir | Haim Bar-Lev | 1,424[15] | 227[16] | ||
| Yom Kippur War (1973) | Israel | Victory[23]
| ||||||
| 1978 South Lebanon conflict Operation Litani | Israel SLA |  PLO | Victory
| Menachem Begin | Ezer Weizman | Mordechai Gur | 18 | None |
| 1982 Lebanon War First Lebanon War / Operation Peace Galilee | Inconclusive
| Ariel Sharon | Rafael Eitan | 657 | 2–3 | |||
| South Lebanon conflict Security Zone Campaign | Hezbollah-led victory[39]
| Shimon Peres | Yitzhak Rabin | Moshe Levi | 559 | 7 | ||
| First Intifada (1987–1993) | Israel | Palestinian Uprising suppressed[41]
| Yitzhak Shamir | Dan Shomron | 60 | 100 | ||
| Second Intifada (2000–2005) | Israel | Victory
| Ariel Sharon | Shaul Mofaz | Moshe Ya'alon | 301 | 773 | |
| 2006 Lebanon War Second Lebanon War / Operation Just Reward | Israel |  Hezbollah | Inconclusive
| Ehud Olmert | Amir Peretz | Dan Halutz | 121 | 44 |
| Gaza War Operation Cast Lead | Victory
| Ehud Barak | Gabi Ashkenazi | 10 | 3 | |||
| Gaza War Operation Pillar of Defense | Israel | Ceasefire
| Benjamin Netanyahu | Benny Gantz | 2 | 4 | ||
| Gaza War Operation Protective Edge | Israel | Both sides claim victory | Moshe Ya'alon | 67 | 6 | |||
| Israel–Palestine crisis (2021) | Jewish Israeli protesters | Protesters in Israel andPalestine
| Victory claimed by both sides
| Benny Gantz | Aviv Kochavi | 1 | 14 | |
| Gaza war Operation Iron Swords (2023–present) | Israel[c] Allies: |  Hamas
| Ongoing | Yoav Gallant (until November 2024) Israel Katz (currently) | Herzi Halevi | 1,087+ | 1,002+ | |
| Israel–Hezbollah conflict Operation Northern Arrows (2023–2024) | Israel | Hezbollah[77] | Ongoing | 87+ | 46+ | |||
| Israeli invasion of Syria Operation Arrow of Bashan (2024–present) | Israel | Ongoing | Israel Katz | 1 | 0 | |||
| Iran–Israel war Operation Rising Lion | Israel United States |  Iran Houthis | Ceasefire | Eyal Zamir | 1 | 31 | ||
This Jewish-Druze partnership was often referred to as a "covenant of blood," in recognition of the common military yoke carried by the two peoples for the security of the country.
Between June 5 and June 10, Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan, and Syria and occupied the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights
On 7 June 1967, the day the occupation started, Military Proclamation No. 2 was issued, endowing the area commander with full legislative, executive, and judicial authorities over the West Bank and declaring that the law in force prior to the occupation remained in force as long as it did not contradict new military orders.
The failure of the invasion can be seen as the result of a number of misconceptions by the Israelis. The most prominent misconceptions underlying Israel's policy were: that Lebanon had a Christian majority, that the position of the president was a strong one, that the Lebanese Forces were powerful, that the Maronites wanted a Christian state, that the Maronite faction they were liaising with represented all Maronites, and that the Maronites were reliable.
The failure of Operation Peace of [sic] Galilee to achieve its objective prevailed upon the new national coalition government, which took office in 1984, to withdraw forthwith from Lebanon.
In the latest poll, in May, 36 percent of the public still said it was right to launch the war in 1982 and 60 percent said it was wrong. Significantly, 75 percent said the war was a failure.
The failure of the political objectives of Operation Peace for Galilee highlights a significant disconnect in Israel's execution of the conflict. In the opinion of John Garofano, Israel's political leaders, especially Ariel Sharon, had overestimated the time available and underestimated the cost in lives to achieve these goals. Corroborating this view, Shlomo Gazit, a former head of Israeli military intelligence says that both Begin and Sharon 'chose to isolate themselves from their intelligence advisors and never evinced the slightest doubt that they could achieve their objective'. As the siege of Beirut continued, Sharon's ability to direct IDF operations was gradually restricted by his cabinet colleagues to the point that he could only issue piecemeal orders. Meanwhile, the IDF suffered large numbers of casualties in fierce urban fighting and later became bogged down in two decades of a low-intensity war against Hezbollah that it could not win
In 1982, the IDF were initially successful, but changes in government policy and civilian leaders' strategic objectives caused mission creep, dysfunction, and eventual failure to achieve military goals. Israel withdrew its forces to the border areas by 1985, and withdrew further to the international boundary in 2000.
However, the failure of "Operation Peace for Galilee" goes far beyond the objectives implied by the war's shrewdly chosen code name, since those who planned it had set their sights much farther afield.
Adding to their frustration was the most recent and only failure of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF): Operation Peace for Galilee, the ill-fated invasion of Lebanon.
In time, however, Arafat and his guerrilla leadership decided that they would have to withdraw, leaving no military and very little political or symbolic presence behind. Their enemy's firepower and overall strategic advantage were too great and it was apparently ready to use them to destroy the whole city over the heads of its inhabitants. The rank and file did not like this decision, and there were murmurings of 'treason' from some of Arafat's harsher critics. Had they not already held out, far longer than any Arab country in any former war, against all that the most powerful army in the Middle East – and the fourth most powerful in the world, according to Sharon – could throw against them? (...) But [Palestinians] knew that, if they expected too much, they could easily lose [Lebanese Muslim support] again. 'If this had been Jerusalem', they said, 'we would have stayed to the end. But Beirut is not outs to destroy.
Iran has also played an instrumental role in building up Hezbollah's military capabilities over the years, which enabled the group's impressive military wing to oust Israel from south Lebanon in 2000
The LCP ... has itself been very close to Hezbollah and fought alongside it in the frontlines in the south. According to Hadadeh, at least 12 LCP members and supporters died in the fighting.
More than 700 Islamic militants from Somalia traveled to Lebanon in July to fight alongside Hezbollah in its war against Israel, a United Nations report says. The militia in Lebanon returned the favor by providing training and — through its patrons Iran and Syria — weapons to the Islamic alliance struggling for control of Somalia, it adds.
.svg)
