Arab–Israeli conflict Arabs emerged in the early 20th century, peaking into a full-scale civil war in 1947 and transforming into the First Arab–Israeli War in May 1948, following the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Large-scale hostilities mostly ended with the cease-fire agreements after the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Peace agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt in 1979, resulting in Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula and abolishment of the military governance system in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in favor of Israeli Civil Administration and consequent unilateral annexation of the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. The nature of the conflict has
Views on the Arab–Israeli conflict rights and freedoms to Jews, and others (such as Saudi Arabia) do not even allow Jews to be citizens. The United Nations Human Development Reports and human rights groups report that many Arab countries do not allow political opposition and other freedoms and lack checks and balances and separation of powers. They also argue that within Israel, Israeli Arabs are not subject to this type of discrimination. They point to Israel's democratic system which protects the rights of Jewish and Arab Israelis alike. Within the pre-1967 armistice lines, Arab and other minorities are given freedom of religion, culture and political