The great powers and conflict transformation in the Arab-Israeli dispute

The Arab-Israeli conflict, which is almost a century old, has become one of the most important in international politics. The Palestinian-Jewish conflict in Mandatory Palestine was between two non-sovereign communities segregated from each other by socio-political boundaries. An interstate conflict system replaced the intercommunal conflict system that had previously existed. The collapse of the socio-political structure of the Palestinian community, the emergence of the Jewish state, and the assumption of political goals by sovereign Arab states transformed the character of the conflict into an interstate conflict. Since the inception of intercommunal conflict in Palestine, the balance of power shifted steadily in the favor of the Jewish community. Israel’s alliance with France and Britain, who shared some of its views regarding Gamal Abdel-Nasser’s regional aspirations, was designed to create a configuration of power that would favor the attacking side. Israels military victory in combination with American political support changed the existing equlibrium but was not sufficient to terminate the conflict system.