Unfold six Arab states’ embrace of Israel since 1973 out of national interests and U.S. mediation, sidelining the Palestinian movement, and explore Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and its implications for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israeli diplomacy.

How did Israel end the cycle of war with neighboring states and gain increasing acceptance within the Middle East since 1973? How did leaders such as Anwar Sadat, King Hussein, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, and Shimon Peres make progress toward peace? What are the effects of the brutal Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war?

This course is made up of four sections:

• Part I: Quest for Normalization: 1973-1982 — How the October 1973 war paved the way for American diplomacy to unfold a peace between Israel and Egypt. How Egypt’s Sadat and Israel’s Meir, Rabin and Begin channeled national interests to reach the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli treaty. How the PLO refused American overtures to join negotiations.
• Part II: Quest for Normalization: 1982-2000 — How, just when regional peace seemed further away than ever after Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon and the 1987 Palestinian uprising, the PLO and Israel accepted each other, although no Palestinian state was promised. How Israel and Jordan signed a treaty in 1994 while Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran still rejected Israel as a Jewish state.
• Part III: Quest for Normalization: 2000-Present — How the Arafat-run PLO’s embrace of suicide attacks instead of a brokered peace deal ushered in an era of stalled negotiations and rising Hamas power yet also evolved into additional Arab countries recognizing Israel through and after the 2020 Abraham Accords.
• Part IV: Hamas-Israel War — 2023-Forward and Preliminary Conclusions — How the terrorist Hamas invasion Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war have once again shattered beliefs about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and visions for regional peace.

What You’ll Learn

Upon completing this course, you will have a deep and clear understanding of how Israel has advanced relations with much of the region but stalled in resolving the conflict with the Palestinians, including:

• Leadership and political vision’s instrumental roles in making peace.
• Diplomatic agreements’ dependence on national interests and U.S. guarantees.
• Israel’s continuing quest for recognition despite Palestinian Arab violence directed at Israel and Jews.
• Shared values and mutual interests behind the sustained Diaspora support for Israel and the deep U.S.-Israel relationship.
• Realities about worldwide antisemitism, the lack of acceptance of a Jewish state, the endurance of the Arab-Israeli conflict, but also the resilience of Israelis and Diaspora Jews, all revealed by the genocidal Oct. 7 violence against Israelis and others.

And much more.

Estimated Completion Time: 1 hour*

* Those who want to dive deeper into these and ancillary topics will find accompanying sources that can keep you learning for hours on end.