The relationship between Israel and the Arabs states has been one wrangled in various challenges, and the tension between those states have been developing over the years despite the international measures to contain it. While Israel always keeps their relationship with the surrounding countries for their benefit, most of the Arabs state try to masquerade their façade for the obvious reasons that they fear they may worsen the relationship between Israel and Palestine. The two countries have been at the hitch and fighting over the country border with no amicable solution that has gotten through to provide a lasting peace. Although increasing diplomatic exposure between the two countries focus on uniting them and signaling new generation where the two countries live in peace and harmony, there is always a stumbling block that deprives people the peace of mind and thus making the relationship between Israel and Arab states much tense and volatile.

According to Gerner (2018), the tension between the Arab states and Israel range from military conflict, political tension and disputes over the borders. The increase in these tensions are attributed to the rise of Arabs nationalism and Zionist which occurred at the end of the 19^th century, and part of the conflict is due to the border issues. A piece of the land that the Jewish regard as their ancestral land is deemed by the Arab states to have historical relevance and thus belong to Palestine’s; in this context,  they refer it as Muslim land. This conflict that started in the early 20^th century went to full scale in the year 1947 and has been the fuel of the war between Israel and Palestine. According to Gerner  (2018), the nature of the conflict has been shifting over the years from all inclusive of the Arab states and narrowing down to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict: this conflict was heightened during the Lebanon war in the year 1994.

Harkabi (2017) state that various agreements have been reached, some to end the cease-fire and others to maintain harmony before a long lasting solution could be achieved.  For instance, in September 1993, the Israel prime minister signed an agreement with the Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman, Yasser Arafat. The treaties are commonly referred to as the Oslo accord. These agreements on a more substantial part were one side and just brought the war at a standstill until a permanent solution could be sought. In the agreement, the Israelites conceded nothing and took control of many parts of the conflicted land. The treaties gave Israel a 61% control of the West Bank a deal that infuriates the Arab nations since the Palestinians did not even take the full power of the areas they were allocated (Makovsky, 2018). Israel continued to control the Palestinian border, their airspace, economic relationship, access to water and other resources and telecommunication. The Arab states view this as intense sense since many deaths of the Palestinians are experience in the hands of Israel soldiers due to aggravated resists of the Palestinian nationalist. On the one hand, they view the treaty as one that does not in any way help in bringing the peace nor serving the common interest between the states.

Some scholars argue that the Arab countries are more committed to the Palestinian issues compared to Israel and thus serve the interest of the Palestinians, However, not for the holistic good of the Palestinians (Durante, 2018). For instance, when the flood hit the refugees in the year 1948 during the Arab-Israel war, close to a million Palestinians vacated the land and took refuge in the Westbank, Gaza strip, and others went to the surrounding Sunni Arab countries. The latter was denied the opportunity to enter the countries and integrate with people. Instead of fortifying the relationship in this time of need, they send off the refugee telling them to return to their territorial land which is Israel (Durante, 2018). Most noticeably, these acts were more of harm to the Palestinians as they were the most affected in the calamity. Another mistreatment of double standard is seen where the Arab countries deny the Palestinians with the chance to have an equal right with the rest of the people. In this case, they are denied or pass through a laborious process in obtaining the work permits, the citizenry, or get discriminated in many walks of life. These harsh treatments are despite their advocate for Israel to treat the Palestinians with respect and dignity.

On a brighter side, some scholars claim that Israel is inclined to increase their diplomatic power by strengthening their relationship with other nations and through this, a level of decency in the relationship between them and the Arab states is being achieved (Knell, 2018). According to the BBC news, meeting between the Israeli Prime minister and One of the renowned Arab Statesman Sultan of Oman has significantly been the pinnacle of the new face of peace since it is the first meeting of its kind in public between officials of such caliber(Knell, 2018). Thus, more promising trips and meetup to seek an amicable solution between these different states are likely to happen.

References

Durante, R., & Zhuravskaya, E. (2018). Attack when the world is not watching? US news and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Journal of Political Economy, 126(3), 1085-1133.

Gerner, D. J. (2018). One land, two peoples: The conflict over Palestine. Routledge.

Harkabi, Y. (2017). Arab attitudes to Israel. Routledge.

Knell, Y. (2018). Israel-Arab ties warm up after long deep freeze. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-46075180

Makovsky, D. (2018). Making Peace with the PLO: The Rabin Government’s Road to the Oslo Accord. Routledge.