Creating a State of Belligerency A Study of the Armistice Negotiations between Israel and Syria in 1949 Master thesis in history By Petter Stenberg Departm ent of Archaeology, Conservation and History UNIVERSITETET I OSLO 3∞≤©Æß Front Cover: ´Armistice Tent´ on the Tiberias-Damascus highway Source: Eytan, Walter: The First Ten Years, A Diplomatic History of Israel Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 1958 ii Creating a State of Belligerency A Study of the Armistice Negotiations between Israel and Syria in 1949 Petter Stenberg Master thesis in history Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History UNIVERSITETET I OSLO Spring 2009 iii iv Table of Contents Preface.................................................................................................................................................................. vii List of Maps.......................................................................................................................................................... ix 1 Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................1 Theme and Research Questions ......................................................................................................................... 1 Theory on Mediation Efforts – Influence of a Third Party................................................................................. 5 What is an Armistice? ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Presentation of the Israeli-Syrian Armistice Agreement in the literature........................................................... 9 Primary Sources ............................................................................................................................................... 12 2 The Road to the Establishment of the Israel-Syria Armistice Regime in 1949........................................... 15 Troubled Path to Independence........................................................................................................................ 16 The Fear of Greater Syria................................................................................................................................. 19 From British Mandate to UN Partition............................................................................................................. 23 Preparations for Battle...................................................................................................................................... 24 The first Arab-Israeli War ................................................................................................................................ 27 3 The UN Mediation Effort ................................................................................................................................ 37 UN Invitation to Rhodes .................................................................................................................................. 38 The Israeli-Egyptian Armistice: Construction of a Framework ....................................................................... 39 The Israeli-Lebanese Armistice: The Syrian Link ........................................................................................... 42 The Israeli-Transjordanian Armistice: Old Friends Meet Again...................................................................... 44 Conciliatory or Intransigent?............................................................................................................................ 48 Questioning the UN mandate ...................................................................................................................... 48 Desire for Alignment................................................................................................................................... 49 The Impediment of Abdullah – Thwarting Greater Syria............................................................................ 50 Ignoring the UN........................................................................................................................................... 51 Approaching the UN.................................................................................................................................... 52 Intervening in Syrian Politics........................................................................................................................... 53 4 Introduction to the Armistice Negotiations.................................................................................................... 57 Off to “No Man`s Land” .................................................................................................................................. 58 Troubled Start: Israeli Truce Violations........................................................................................................... 60 Creation of a Deadlock: Border Disputes......................................................................................................... 62 v Truce Lines or International Borders........................................................................................................... 62 Lausanne at Stake ........................................................................................................................................ 67 “Can the Hill Not Wait Empty?”...................................................................................................................... 68 Zaim`s Controversial Proposal......................................................................................................................... 69 5 Negotiation Stalemate ...................................................................................................................................... 71 Waiting for an Israeli Concession .................................................................................................................... 72 Bunche Intervening .......................................................................................................................................... 74 Colliding Views ............................................................................................................................................... 78 Far from the Scene ........................................................................................................................................... 81 Sharett`s Move: Short-lived Optimism ............................................................................................................ 84 6 The Outcome of the Israeli-Syrian Armistice Talks ..................................................................................... 87 The Government House Affair......................................................................................................................... 88 Bunche`s Final Contribution: The 8 June Proposal.......................................................................................... 91 Determining the Armistice Demarcation Line............................................................................................. 91 The Establishment of the Demilitarized Zone ............................................................................................. 93 The Question of Sovereignty Unsolved....................................................................................................... 95 The Question of Civil Administration ......................................................................................................... 96 The Final Phase: Room for Manoeuvre?........................................................................................................ 100 The Work of the Sub-Committees: Issues on the Agenda.............................................................................. 103 The Demilitarized Zone: Towards a Permanent Non-Solution ................................................................. 104 Towards an Interim Solution: Solving the Final Obstacle......................................................................... 104 The Signing .................................................................................................................................................... 106 7 The Israeli-Syrian Armistice: The Bridge to Peace that became the Road to War.................................. 109 Laying the Path for Continued Conflict ......................................................................................................... 110 The Consequences of an Interim Solution: The Road to the 1967 War ......................................................... 112 The Game of Contradictory Arguments ......................................................................................................... 115 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................................................... 117 Secondary Literature ...................................................................................................................................... 117 Printed Primary Sources................................................................................................................................. 120 Archives Consulted .......................................................................................................................................