Arab-Israeli Wars: Who Started Each Conflict — 1948 to 2023
In most Arab-Israeli wars from 1948 to 2023, Israel was attacked first or faced acts it treated as a casus belli; the contested exceptions are 1956 (Suez), 1967 (Israeli preemptive strike) and 1982 (the Lebanon invasion), which critics cite as Israeli-initiated. The aggressor in each case was an Arab state, a Palestinian faction, or an Iranian proxy. Israel won every war. This record is the empirical basis for evaluating narratives that frame Israel as an expansionist aggressor — and it directly contradicts the foundational premise of "Israel started it."
One of the most persistent claims in commentary about the Israel-Palestine conflict is that Israel is the aggressor — an expansionist state that provokes conflicts and occupies land. The historical record of who initiated each Arab-Israeli war provides direct evidence against this claim.
In every documented case from 1948 to 2023, Israel was attacked first. The table below summarizes each conflict.
| Year | Conflict | Who Started It | Who Was Attacked | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Arab-Israeli War (Israel's Independence) | Arab League (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon) declared war on Israel the day it declared independence | Israel | Israel survived; armistice lines established |
| 1948–1967 | Fedayeen raids | Palestinian fedayeen (supported by Egypt and Jordan) — cross-border attacks on Israeli civilians | Israel | Ongoing Israeli defensive operations |
| 1967 | Six-Day War | Egypt blockaded Strait of Tiran (act of war under international law), massed troops on border; Jordan and Syria mobilized | Israel (preemptive strike after Egyptian act of war) | Israel won in 6 days; captured Sinai, West Bank, Golan Heights |
| 1967–1970 | War of Attrition | Egypt initiated artillery bombardment of Israeli positions along Suez Canal | Israel | Ceasefire; no territorial change |
| 1973 | Yom Kippur War | Egypt and Syria launched coordinated surprise attack on Yom Kippur | Israel | Israel repelled the attack; temporary Egyptian gains reversed |
| 1971–1982 | PLO attacks from Lebanon; 1982 Lebanon War | PLO cross-border attacks through 1981; after a July 1981 US-brokered truce, Israel invaded Lebanon on June 6, 1982, citing the attempted assassination of Ambassador Shlomo Argov (carried out by the PLO's rival Abu Nidal group) | Disputed | PLO expelled from Lebanon; Israeli occupation of south Lebanon until 2000 (Wikipedia) |
| 1985–2000 | Lebanon Conflict | Hezbollah and Palestinian groups — rocket attacks and attacks on northern Israel | Israel | Israel maintained security zone; withdrawal 2000 |
| 1987–1993 | First Intifada | Palestinian uprising in West Bank and Gaza; initiated by Palestinian factions | Israel (military operations in occupied territories) | Oslo Accords (1993) |
| 2000–2005 | Second Intifada | Palestinian Authority and Hamas — suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians after Camp David collapse | Israel | About 1,000 Israelis killed (roughly 650–770 civilians) and over 3,000 Palestinians killed; barrier constructed (Wikipedia) |
| 2006 | Lebanon War (Second) | Hezbollah cross-border raid — killed 8 Israeli soldiers, kidnapped 2 | Israel | 34-day war; Hezbollah intact; UN Resolution 1701 |
| 2008 | Operation Cast Lead | Hamas — rocket barrages on Israeli towns escalated to trigger Israeli response | Israel | Hamas weakened but not removed |
| 2012 | Operation Pillar of Defense | Hamas — escalating rocket fire; Israel targeted Hamas commander Ahmed Jabari | Israel | 8-day operation; ceasefire |
| 2014 | Operation Protective Edge | Hamas — continued rocket fire + discovery of attack tunnels | Israel | 50-day war; tunnels destroyed; Hamas weakened |
| 2021 | Operation Guardian of the Walls | Hamas — rocket barrage during Jerusalem tensions | Israel | 11-day operation; ceasefire |
| 2023–present | Israel-Hamas War | Hamas — October 7 massacre (about 1,200 killed, 251 taken hostage) | Israel | Ongoing; Hamas military capacity severely degraded |
The 1967 War: The Hardest Case
The Six-Day War is the case most often cited to argue that Israel was the aggressor — because Israel launched the first airstrikes.
The relevant context:
- May 22, 1967: Egypt blockaded the Strait of Tiran to Israeli shipping. When Israel withdrew from Sinai in 1957 after the Suez Crisis, it relied on U.S. assurances on freedom of passage and declared it would treat a renewed blockade as an act of war; whether the blockade was legally an act of war remains debated.
- May 14–16, 1967: Egypt deployed 100,000 troops and 1,000 tanks to the Sinai, directly on Israel's border, while requesting UN peacekeepers leave — UN Secretary-General U Thant complied without Security Council authorization.
- May 30, 1967: Jordan signed a mutual defense pact with Egypt, placing Jordanian forces under Egyptian command.
- June 5, 1967: Israel launched preemptive airstrikes destroying the Egyptian Air Force on the ground.
Preemptive military action against an imminent attack following an act of war is recognized in international law as a legitimate exercise of self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. Israel argued its strike was lawful anticipatory self-defense; international lawyers remain divided on the question.
The territories Israel captured in 1967 — Sinai, West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights — were captured from states that had attacked or were imminently attacking Israel. Egypt later received Sinai back in the Camp David Accords (1979). Gaza was administered by Egypt before 1967, not as a Palestinian state; the West Bank was administered by Jordan.
What This Record Means
In Israel's account, supported by much of the record above, its wars were responses to attacks, acts of war or imminent threats; critics point to 1956 and 1982 as wars of choice.
This does not mean Israel has never made errors, committed violations of international law, or acted disproportionately in specific operations. Those are separate claims that require separate evidence.
What it does mean: the framing of Israel as an inherently expansionist, aggressor state — the state that starts wars, the state that occupies land it seized for its own territorial ambition — is not supported by the documented history of who fired first in each conflict.
The 2023 war began with Hamas killing 1,200 Israelis and taking 251 hostages on October 7. The territories Israel captured in 1967 came from states that massed armies on its borders following an act of war (naval blockade). The settlements and occupation that draw international condemnation are consequences of those wars — wars Israel did not start.
This is not the complete picture of the conflict. It is one factual pillar of it — one that the 'Israel is the aggressor' framing cannot accommodate.
Summary
- Every Arab-Israeli war from 1948 to 2023: Israel was the attacked party
- 1948: Arab states invaded on day of Israel's independence
- 1967: Egypt blockaded Strait of Tiran (act of war); Israel launched preemptive strikes
- 1973: Egypt and Syria launched surprise attack on Yom Kippur
- 2000–05 Second Intifada: Hamas/PA suicide bombing campaign targeting civilians
- 2006: Hezbollah cross-border raid; 2008/2012/2014/2021: Hamas rocket barrages
- 2023: Hamas October 7 massacre — about 1,200 killed, 251 taken hostage
- Israel has survived every war fought against it; some (e.g. 2006, which left Hezbollah intact) ended inconclusively