Could the Intifada devolve into a full-scale civil war?

DaHound22

Banned
I want to know just what the title says; could the intifada (preferably the first intifada) devolve into a full-scale civil war between Palestinians and Israelis? If so, how would it get to that point?
 

TinyTartar

Banned
I want to know just what the title says; could the intifada (preferably the first intifada) devolve into a full-scale civil war between Palestinians and Israelis? If so, how would it get to that point?

You'd need Arab Israelis to back the Intifada, and back it enthusiastically, something they were unable or unwilling to do OTL.

If this happens, they will no longer be seen as a potential fifth column by the right and a charity case by the left but rather an enemy of the state.
 
I want to know just what the title says; could the intifada (preferably the first intifada) devolve into a full-scale civil war between Palestinians and Israelis? If so, how would it get to that point?

Short of the Israeli Army going into East Jerusalem and '"annexing" the Al-Aqsa Mosque, its bordering on ASB.

Arab Israelis have far too much to lose, economically speaking, in supporting any one of the Intifadas, especially those nominally run by Arafat
 
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DaHound22

Banned
Short of the Israeli Army going into East Jerusalem and '"annexing" the Al-Aqsa Mosque, its bordering on ASB.

Arab Israelis have far too much to lose, economically speaking, in supporting any one of the Intifadas, especially those nominally run by Arafat

Well what could make the Israeli army get to that point?
 
Well what could make the Israeli army get to that point?

Nothing short of an ASB.

Say what you want of the Israeli Military Complex, one thing they are not are stupid, and expropriating the such a deeply holy site in the Islamic faith would be diplomatic suicide.

That being said, if a ultra-nationalist Israeli Settler party some how seizes the Knesset (impossible), maybe that could be a precursor to such a move.

Outside that, not happening.
 

DaHound22

Banned
What if Israel annexes the West Bank and Gaza? That could certainly warrant a heavy Arab backlash, right?
 
What if Israel annexes the West Bank and Gaza? That could certainly warrant a heavy Arab backlash, right?

No. They'd probably welcome that as a solution unless Israel installs a literal apartheid system to stop palestinian influence on Israeli politics. And Israel wouldn't annex the territory that late in the game unless there were specific cultural positions and movements gaining power among the Palestinian populace.
 
What if Israel annexes the West Bank and Gaza? That could certainly warrant a heavy Arab backlash, right?

They are annexed, the residents just aren't citizens. What would happen if the Egyptian army moved into Gaza, or the Jordanian into the West Bank? What if they were invited by Palestinians?
 
Hmmmm. So you have an essentially unarmed, untrained, civilian population which is outnumbered and completely surrounded, faced off against a highly trained, supersophisticated, highly equipped military force. That's not a war, that's just different species of massacre.
 
Not with Arafat as PLO leader. Contrary to European or American opinion, Arafat wasn't really popular among Palestinians. The Fatah was often referred to as "the Tunisian clique", they were corrupt to the bones and every money they got from development policy agencies didn't go to their people, but was spent on their own wealth. That's also one of the key reasons why Hamas became such a widespread movement. So I don't think an Arafat-led PLO could lead Palestinians into civil war. Actually, it would rather lead to an inner-Palestinian civil war, which happened in OTL after 2005.
 
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