Israel and Algeria amid French Colonialism and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1954-1978

Abstract

ISRAEL AND THE MAGHRIB STATES have never technically been in a state of war, nor have they ever enjoyed a real peace. Although for several decades discreet links between Israel, Morocco, and Tunisia led to greater understanding and limited cooperation against the backdrop of turbulent Arab-Israeli politics, Algerian-Israeli relations never crystallized into anything viable and remained at an impasse.1 This article highlights I) the intricacies of the complex Algerian-Israeli relations, beginning with the Algerian war of independence on I November 1954 up to the 1978 EgyptianIsraeli Camp David peace accord; 2) the reasons why ties between the two countries were deadlocked; and, 3) the long-range consequences of these ties.