public places in Israel.

In 1956, Israel attacked Egypt with the support of Western powers and both United States and USSR demanded a cessation of war and a cease-fire. Israel had to withdraw its army. In 1967, Arabs attacked Israel once again. Israel decided that offence is the best form of defense and it attacked Egypt and destroyed its entire air force. It also occupied the territories of Gaza, Golan Heights and the West Bank. Israel while refusing to return the occupied territories despite UN resolution, agreed for a ceasefire. Israel believed that these occupied territories would act as buffer zones. This war was a setback to the Arab cause.

In the meanwhile, an organisation called Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO hereafter) was established in 1964 in Jordon and added a new dimension by bringing together all the different Arab factions. Its aim was to regain the land it lost without violence. However, in 1967, PLO under the leadership of Yasser Arafat applied pressure and force on Arab states to attack Israel. But the Arab states were not very enthusiastic. Hence, a faction of PLO lead by Arafat carried out terrorist attacks like plane hijackings, holding the Israeli Olympic Squad at the Munich Olympics as hostages in September 1972 and killing many of the sportspersons etc. Israel used such attacks by the Palestinians to mount further attacks on them and refused to implement the promises it had made.

The region has been constantly in a state of war and terrorist attacks as a result of retaliation and counter retaliation. The PLO too broke into many mutually warring factions. Eventually, Arafat gave up terrorism and agreed to find a peaceful solution by recognising the formation of Israel. He held negotiations with Israel to