Introduction to the Study

Abstract

The general sense of optimism surging through the Jewish and diplomatic world on September 13, 1993, clearly rivaled that of other key moments in modern Jewish history, included heralded events such as David Ben-Gurion’s much- anticipated proclamation of Israeli statehood on May 14, 1948, and the seemingly miraculous success of the Arab- Israeli Six-Day War (June 5–10, 1967). Yet the first event was tempered by the belief, even among top Israeli military officials, that the fledgling Jewish state’s survival was uncertain. This meant the pending battles could result in a newly acute refugee crisis, not to mention tens of thousands of dead Jews, including Holocaust survivors who had recently arrived from Europe’s emptying displaced persons (DP) camps.1 The joyous relief greeting the second event was preceded by weeks of fear of imminent attack by a numerically overwhelming multinational Arab force that might launch a “second Holocaust.”2 In addition, within months after the Six- Day War, a few veteran Israeli political leaders as well as Diaspora activists began wondering what burden the newly acquired territories would place on the state, given the fact that the Arab world refused to recognize, negotiate, or make peace with Israel.3 And while both the 1948 and 1967 events were one- sided celebrations for the Jewish world and its friends, they were mourned as both physically and morally devastating episodes by the Arab states and their allies.4