The Arab Gulf countries and the Arab- Israeli conflict;: the linkages and dynamics (1970-2000)

Abstract

This thesis examines the changing linkages and dynamics of the relationship between the Arab Gulf countries and the Arab-Israeli conflict through the period of 1970-2000. The Arab Gulf countries' level of involvement in supporting the Arabs and Palestinians in the Arab-Israeli conflict diminished throughout the period of study. The thesis explains this diminishing role by discussing the impact of the developments of international struggle for influence in the Gulf as well as the Israeli ambitions and relations to the Gulf region, largely expressed through the Israeli relationship with Iran under the Shah. The thesis shows that the years 1973, 1979 and 1990 formed important turning points for international influence in the region. These turning points influenced on the level of the Arab Gulf countries' involvement in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Throughout the seventies, the Arab Gulf countries played an active role in supporting the Arab side in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The clearest expression of this support was the implementation of the oil embargo against the West during the October 1973 War. The eighties witnessed the birth of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the formation of which symbolized the emerging security challenges within the Gulf region. These security challenges represented by the Iranian Revolution, the Iran-Iraq war and the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan exhausted most of the capabilities and efforts of the Arab Gulf countries. Their focus and attention shifted away from the Arab-Israeli conflict, in spite of the serious and dramatic developments in that conflict. The repercussions of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 resulted in a further diminishment of the role of the Arab Gulf countries in backing the Palestinians in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Only after September 2000 and the beginning of the Second Palestinian Intifada did the Arab Gulf countries again play a vital role, by means of financial, political and media support. The thesis explains the linkages between security in the Gulf and the Arab- Israeli conflict. It examines the hypothesis that a reciprocal relationship explaining the level and type of Arab Gulf countries involvement in the Arab-Israeli conflict has existed throughout the period of the study.