David W. Lesch is the Ewing Halsell Distinguished Professor of History in the Department of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He received his M.A. and PhD in Middle East History from Harvard University.

Lesch achieves the nearly impossible in The Arab-Israeli Conflict: a dispassionate, comprehensive, empirically based narrative of the key events, individuals and peoples, and wider historical/political forces that have influenced, and continue to influence, the Israeli/Arab-Israeli/Palestinian conflict writ large. His engaging writing style makes a very complex case much more understandable, not by oversimplifying or by removing important depth, but by using aplain-spoken, active voice that practically carries the reader along as his narrative unfolds. If you want to read one book that will help you understand why we are still talking about this conflict today, read this book. - Bryan Brophy-Baermann, Lesley University

• Maps and Figures Closer Look Primary Sources Preface Note on the Text Chapter One: The Intellectual and Physical Setting Chapter Two: Competing Peoples and Ideologies Primary Sources Theodor Herzl: The Jewish State (Der Judenstaat), 1896 Basle Program (August 23,1897) Negib Azoury: Program of the League of the Arab Fatherland Chapter Three: The Convergence: World War One and a New Middle East Primary Sources Hussein-McMahon Correspondence (July 14, 1915-March 10, 1916) The Sykes-Picot Agreement: 1916 The Balfour Declaration: 1917 British Declaration to Seven Arab Spokesmen Anglo-French Declaration Resolutions of the General Syrian Congress (Damascus, July 2, 1919) Memorandum Presented to the King-Crane Commission by the General Syrian Congress British White Paper of June 1922 Chapter Four: The Palestine Mandate Primary Sources Peel White Paper (Peel Commission) British White Paper of 1939 Chapter Five: Independence and al-Nakba Primary Sources Biltmore Program (May 11, 1942) United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 (111) (December 11, 1948) Testimony on Palestinian Arab Reaction to the UNSCOP Proposals to the UN Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question Declaration of Israel's Independence 1948 Chapter Six: Cold Wars and the Middle East Matrix Primary Sources Speech by President Nasser on Nationalization of the Suez Canal Statement to the General Assembly by Foreign Minister Golda Meir Chapter Seven: The Earthquake: The 1967 Arab-Israeli War Primary Sources Nasser's Speech to National Assembly Members on May 29, 1967 United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 The Khartoum Resolutions The Palestinian National Charter: Resolutions of the Palestine National Council Rogers Plan (December 9, 1969) Chapter Eight: The Road to 1979 Primary Sources United Nations Security Council Resolution 338 Rabat Arab Summit Resolutions (October 28, 1974) President Anwar Sadat: Peace with Justice (November 20, 1977) Menachem Begin's Reply to President Sadat Peace Treaty Between Israel and Egypt Arab League Summit Communique, Baghdad, Iraq Chapter Nine: Mutual Fallouts: Lebanon and the Arab-Israeli Conflict Primary Sources United Nations Security Council Resolution 425 The Fahd Plan Reagan Fresh Start Initiative (Reagan Peace Plan) Yasir Arafat, Press Conference Statement Shamir Plan, May 14,1989 Chapter Ten: A Decade of Hope Primary Sources Madrid Peace Conference Letter of Invitation Israel-PLO Recognition Israel-Palestine Liberation Organization Agreement: 1993 The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Washington, D.C. (September 28, 1995) The Wye River Memorandum Chapter Eleven: Breakdown Primary Sources President William J. Clinton Statement on the Middle East Peace Talks at Camp David Chapter Twelve: 9/11 and its Aftermath Primary Sources President George W. Bush's State of the Union Speech, January 2002 (excerpt) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Speech at the Herzliya Conference, December 2002 03/27/2002 Speech by Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz at the 14th Arab Summit in Beirut, Lebanon Resolution 1559 (2004): Adopted by the Security Council at its 5028th Meeting, on 2 September 2004 A Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict UN Security Council Resolution 1701: Adopted Unanimously by the Security Council on August 11, 2006 Remarks by President Obama at Cairo University, June 2009 Statement by President Trump on Jerusalem, December 2017 New Hamas Charter May 2017 Glossary of Terms Chronology Credits Notes For Further Reading Index