ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 showed in descriptive terms the GA activity related to the Arab–Israeli conflict. This preliminary analysis represented a necessary step for establishing the definition of the dependent variables and opening the way toward the causal investigation. The aim of this chapter is to explain the variation in the number and type of drafts submitted. Specifically, it addresses four questions:
Whether the Arab–Israeli conflict is an issue which has produced opposing voting groups or blocs of states within the GA
How many groups there are and who they are
If and how these groups have evolved during the sixty years of conflict
How they have affected GA activity in response to the conflict.
In order to answer to these questions, the states’ voting behavior in more than a thousand draft resolutions concerning the Arab–Israeli conflict will be used as indicators of both the evolution of the states’ relationships and of their orientations towards the conflict.