Israeli Peace Movement

The peace movement in Israel has roots back to the creation of the state in 1948. Early organizations such [Page 763]as Israeli Peace Committee and Movement Against Religious Coercion had links to political parties on the left but attracted independent intellectuals as well. The movements of today have a similar position.

The group Ihud (Unity), formed in the early 1940s, was working for a binational state in Palestine. With leading intellectuals and pacifists such as Judah Magnes and Martin Buber, they worked for self-determination for both communities and tried to prevent a confrontation. From 1948 to 1967, political parties should be included in an extended definition of the peace movement in Israel. The parties had tight relations to peace organizations and their agenda was dominated by the same questions as the peace movement. The main discussion in the movement, as in the rest of the Israel society, was about the relation to the Palestinians. Peace issues also dominated the Zionist movement and their conflicts between socialists and religious groups. Academics and other intellectuals played vital roles in the early movements. The universities were breeding grounds for new activists and the central stage for discussions. Matzpen (Israeli Socialist Organisation), SIAH (New Israeli Left), and Peace and Security were the main organizations, but none of them managed to substantially influence the agenda of the existing parties.

The Six-Day War in 1967 was by all standards a watershed in the history of Israel and for the peace movement. The occupation of the new territories reopened the old discussion about the borders of a Jewish state. Immediately the question about negotiating land for peace was at the center of the debate, and that is still a core part of the current discussion, in which the peace movement is an important actor.

After some period of confusion and discussion, the suggestion to create a Palestinian state in Gaza and on the West Bank became the main question for the peace discussion. It took some time after the 1967 war for the first truly independent peace groups to emerge. Activists needed time to formulate their views and positions in the new reality.

The Yom Kippur War in 1973 came as a shock to the Israeli people. More than 2,500 Israeli soldiers died in the surprise attack, many more were seriously wounded. The feeling of security and accomplishment after the Six-Day War collapsed and the loyalty to the government crumbled among many Israelis.

This resulted in extraparliamentary protests and formation of the modern peace movement of Israel. Outside the prime minister's office, the lonely protester Motti Ashkenazi soon got support for his demand that Defense Minister Moshe Dayan should resign. Thousands of reservists, who had been called up to push back the Egyptian army, took to the streets and supported the many peace activists in a wave of nationwide protests. But the movement lacked unity on central issues like what the relation to the Palestinians should be. The majority of Israelis were not in favor of any form of coexistence. The political parties were only involved in the periphery and no one else was able to gather the movement.

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