Fighting for Peace Online Trivia | War History

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The first official war Israel fought was the War of Independence, against Arab States and Palestinian organizations. This was a response to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, as the UN considered Jews deserved to have a state of their own. One of the many names this war has is "al-Nakba". What does this mean in Arabic?

Answer: The Catastrophe

After the Holocaust, the Jewish case for a country of their own seemed stronger than ever. Besides, the British had decided they could not reach a solution that would be acceptable for both sides (Arabs and Jews). Therefore, they abandoned Palestine and the United Nations came up with the Palestine Partition Plan, which planned for the land to have a Jewish State and an Arab State. The city of Jerusalem would be under international control. The Jews accepted the plan, but the Arabs didn't, as they wanted the whole territory to be theirs. Following the rejection, Arab organizations from Palestine started attacking Jewish targets. A civil war broke out, and that is how the war started!

Jews were organized in various militias, like the "yishuvim", the Haganah, the Palmach and more. The activities of some of these groups were considered as terrorism. The political leader was David Ben-Gurion, who later united many of these forces to become the Israel Defense Forces. On the Arab side, a coalition of Arab States formed by Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and various other Palestinian forces, all directed by their respective heads of state and commanders.

In the end, the State of Israel was declared by Ben-Gurion after the Jewish victory, and the 1949 Armistice Agreements put end to the war. Although the end of the fighting, it was not the end of the conflict. While Israel celebrates Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day) every 5th of Iyar of the Hebrew calendar, which falls between April and May, around the same date Nakba Day is celebrated among Arab communities, the celebrate the catastrophe of losing their land.

2. The Suez Crisis, also known as the Sinai War, happened in 1956, after Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal which was owned by Britain and France. These two countries agreed with Israel an invasion of Egypt to secure the canal. As the operation was successful, the coalition won a military victory, but the United Nations knew that new conflicts could emerge after the war. Which force was created by the United Nations in order to secure the end of the Suez Crisis and prevent new conflicts?

Answer: UNEF

The United Nations Emergency Force was created by the United Nations in November 1956 with the UN Resolution 1001 (ES-I). Its purpose was to avoid any recommencement of conflicts between Israel and Egypt in this area following the Suez Crisis It entered Egypt with permission of the government and separated Israeli and Egyptian forces to put a definitive end to the conflict.

Although the alliance of Israel, France and Britain had won a military victory, they were later forced to withdraw from the Suez Canal by the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Nations.

In 1965, the former President of the US, Dwight D. Eisenhower, stated he regretted forcing Israel to withdraw from Sinai.

3. In June 1967, a very short war took place between Israel and Egypt, Syria and Jordan. The Six-Day War began as Israel launched surprise attacks against Egypt after a period of high tension, which included Egyptian forces attacking Israeli targets. Which Israeli is said to have initiated the actual fighting?

Answer: Moshe Dayan

Early on June 5, 1967, after a period of escalating tensions in the borders with many of the surrounding countries, Moshe Dayan as the Israeli Minister of Defense ordered the launch of an aerial surprise attack, which kicked off the Six-Day War. That same evening, Israel's Air Force attacked Syrian airfields and destroyed two thirds of the nation's fighting strength.

Israel (and many other observers) thought that any moment the Arab nations would coordinate a joint attack to Israel, so instead of waiting to be attacked, they started the attack and won a huge military victory. The Arab world was militarily and morally destroyed following the fact that three nations were defeated by a single nation in a matter of six days. Nasser, Egypt's leader at that time, who was viewed as the head of the Arab world, was weakened enormously.

Israel's victory symbolized a huge strategic and land victory, as they captured the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula (which they had been forced to withdraw from in the 1956 Suez Crisis) from Egypt, the West Bank from Jordan and the Golan Heights, one of the most strategic places for the IDF, from Syria. The war ended on June 10, 1967.

4. After the Six-Day War, the international community did little to attempt to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. In 1967, yet another war started between Israel and Egypt, again involving the Sinai Peninsula and the Suez Canal area. In 1969, the Egyptian army was ready for large operations, and on March, President Nasser officially declared war, which lasted until the 1970 ceasefire. What is the name of this war?

Answer: War of Attrition

Because of the failure to achieve peace in the Middle East, tensions did not take long to resume, if they ever stopped. The Sinai Peninsula and the area along the Suez Canal were still occupied by Israel. Egypt refused to recognize the State of Israel, negotiate with it or try to have peace. Then Egypt, with encouragement from the Soviet Union, attempted to regain Sinai and started the war. After three years of fighting, a ceasefire was reached in 1970, with the Sinai Peninsula staying under Israeli control.

More than a month after the ceasefire agreement was reached President Nasser died of a heart attack, and was replaced with Anwar Sadat.

5. The Yom Kippur War happened in October 1973 and it started with a surprise attack by the Arabs against Israeli occupied territories on the day of Yom Kippur, which is the most sacred day in Judaism, and fasting for a bit more than 24 hours is necessary in order for G-d to forgive your mistakes. The Jews, although not weak, were obviously taken by surprise since it was an atonement day. Interestingly enough, the Muslims were also celebrating an important fasting holy month. How is this holiday called?

Answer: Ramadan

This war is also known as The October War, and as the Ramadan War. Both Egyptian and Syrian forces entered the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights, respectively. However, they were pushed back by the Israel Defense Forces soon.

Israel had been given some warning that these attacks might happen, but Prime Minister Golda Meir refused to attack, as it would mean losing support from the United States. Just after the first attack happened, which involved 10,000 Egyptian soldiers against 500 Israeli soldiers, Israel counterattacked successfully. While the United States aided Israel, the USSR helped Egypt and Syria. This sparked fears of a possibility of World War III starting between these countries.

The war ended on October 25, 1973, after a second ceasefire agreement was reached (the first was on October 22 and it didn't work) via the United Nations. Israel won a tactical victory. This war is the direct antecedent of the 1979 Camp David Accords, which would later result in the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, also signed in 1979. Egypt was the first Arab country to recognize the State of Israel.

6. A few years after the Yom Kippur War ended, another one started - the 1982 Lebanon War. This time, Israel wasn't facing Egypt or Jordan, but the Lebanese National Resistance Force, along with the Palestine Liberation Organization and of course, Syria. The war lasted for three years, ending in June of 1982. Who was the leader of the PLO at that time?

Answer: Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat was President of the Palestinian National Authority from 1994 until his death in 2004. He initially was against the State of Israel but in 1988 his point of view changed, which resulted in him signing various peace agreements with Israel, one of which made him share the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres.

The United Nations made various interventions in this war, most notably the introduction of UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, created to restore peace and security in the area. Nasrallah was named leader of Hezbollah in 1992.

7. In 1987, the First Intifada started. The Palestinians intended to boycott the Israeli government and at the same time killed 160 Israelis by all sorts of methods and injured thousands. During the Intifada, 1,087 Palestinians were killed by the IDF, and another 1,000 were murdered by the Palestinians themselves, who claimed they were collaborators of Israel. However, what does the Arabic word "intifada" mean?

Answer: Uprising

Intifada means "uprising" or "rebellion". It was an enormous wave of violence. The main initial cause of the Intifada, besides escalating tensions from both sides, was an Israeli truck crashing into two cars in December 1987, killing four Palestinians in the process. Although no organization was credited for starting the uprising, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Hamas all joined the Palestinians living in Israeli occupied territories.

The Intifada brought, after an immense number of deaths, peace. The official end date of the conflict is September 13, 1993, when the Oslo Accords were signed by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. Rabin's wish for peace would later be the cause for his murder on 1995 by a Jewish extremist.

8. The Second Intifada happened between 2000 and 2005. Ariel Sharon, then Prime Minister of Israel, visited Temple Mount, which was taken as a provocation by Palestinians. In total more than 7,000 people died. What is another name for this Intifada?

Answer: Al-Aqsa Intifada

Sharon's visit (with 1,000 armed guards) to the Al-Aqsa mosque sparked a protest that led to 24 Palestinians being injured by Israeli forces while rioting. Even so, there are some who say the Intifada had been planned months ago, when Yasser Arafat returned from the Camp David negotiations.

The Temple Mount is one of the holiest sites for Judaism, as includes the Western Wall, or the Kotel. It also has the Al-Aqsa complex, which includes the mosque above mentioned. The Second Intifada was also known as the Oslo War.

9. In July 2006, the Second Lebanon War started when the terrorist group Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel, which resulted in the death of three soldiers. The military conflict ended in August 2006, with both sides claiming victory. Which country aided Hezbollah greatly during this war?

Answer: Iran

Iran helped Hezbollah during this war; some even said that this wasn't part of the Arab-Israeli conflict but an Iran-Israeli conflict. After Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel, the response was bombing to Lebanese towns and villages.

The war ended on August 14, 2006, although the Israeli blockade on Lebanon ended on September 8, 2006, officially ending the war.

10. In 2008, the Gaza Strip was a war zone between Israel and Palestinians. The goal of Operation Cast Lead was to stop rocket fire into Israel, as rockets fired by several terrorist organizations were continually falling on Israeli cities near the borders. What is the Operation known as to Palestinians?

Answer: Gaza Massacre

When Israel started the operation, Palestinian groups kept firing rockets as they were "responding to the massacres" the IDF had caused. The war lasted for three weeks until Israel's victory was announced and a ceasefire agreement was reached.

The Israeli cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Sderot were tremendously affected because of their closeness to the Gaza Strip, as where the cities of Rafah, Khan Yunis and of course, Gaza.

Even though thousands of rockets were fired during this period, Israeli civilian targets were also attacked by rockets many years before the Gaza Massacre.

Source: Author Lpez

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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Fighting for Peace Trivia Quiz

Since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, it has sadly been involved in many wars and other military conflicts, all of which have shaped the history of the country. I hope that after all this fighting, peace can be reached. Good luck!

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