We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
from The 1980s
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2023
The rise of the Likud as Israel’s first political party also meant the rise of the controversial Ariel Sharon. Passed over as commander in chief of the Israel Defence Forces, he became Defence Minister under Begin.
The Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 divided Israel with large demonstrations and protests.The siege of Beirut and the subsequent massacres in Palestinian refugee camps by Lebanese Christian forces brought demands for Sharon’s dismissal through his conduct of the invasion. Sharon was isolated in cabinet, found guilty by the Kahan Commission and moved aside as a minister. The PLO however moved out of Lebanon forced to relocate to Tunis and other locations.
Begin resigned in 1983 and was succeeded by Yitzhak Shamir, a veteran leader of Lehi (’the Stern Gang’).
There were numerous attacks by different Palestinian groups on civilian targets. Following the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran now strongly supported the Palestinian cause. In 1981, Israel bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad to prevent Saddam Hussein gaining the possibility of manufacturing nuclear weapons.
In 1988, King Hussein relinquished any responsibility for the West Bank, leaving the Palestinians responsible for their own affairs. The PLO made the first tentative steps towards a two state solution - albeit using ambiguous language.
A non-lethal uprising - an Intifada - by the Palestinians took place at the end of 1987. It gave rise to an enhanced cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian peace camps.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
