ABSTRACT
The Arab world’s relations with Israel have undergone a sweeping transformation during the 70 years of the Jewish state’s existence. The Arab states started out from a position of hatred and hostility, and even more, of refusal to accept Israel as a legitimate entity in the Middle East. At least some of them then moved to a position of acceptance of Israel and a readiness to coexist peacefully, and finally, to the establishment of cooperative relations almost up to the point of concluding a strategic security alliance. This last change of position came about in the shadow of and perhaps under the influence of Israel’s growing regional and international status and, of course, its increasing economic and military strength, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the weakening of the Arab world and the Arab states’ withdrawal into themselves in face of the social and economic problems confronting them. Nevertheless, the recent developments in Israeli–Arab relations have not been accompanied by any breakthrough in Israeli–Palestinian relations. This being so, the question remains whether the reconciliation process between Israel and its Arab neighbors might not turn out to be reversible.
