Crossing the Rubicon: The Munich Syndrome and Forcing Israel to Peace, 1970-1978

Year 2024, Volume: 11 Issue: 2, 45 - 70, 08.12.2024

Menderes Kurt

https://doi.org/10.26513/tocd.1475743

Abstract

The Munich Syndrome has been considered a constraint in the peace process decision-making of Israel. By raising questions such as what obstructs peacemaking in Israel, its costs, and whether it can force peace, the study employs the Munich analogy as a “historical lesson” method to examine why and how peace has turned into an anomaly in Israel. The Munich Agreement of 1938 by Britain and France, amid raging anti-Jewish violence in Europe, sought to appease Adolf Hitler by acquiescing to the German occupation of Czechoslovakia to prevent the world war outbreak, which, however, backfired and emerged as a metaphor for foreign policy decision-making weakness. This historical lesson has impacted Israeli society’s and its leaders’ attitudes towards peace, turning it into a Rubicon line. The study uses the 1970-1978 Arab- Israeli peace process as a case study to explain how the Munich Syndrome impedes peacemaking decisions and potential ways of overcoming it. It argues that a possible way to encourage Israel to make peace with its adversaries is with third parties providing significant concessions and guarantees.

Keywords

The Munich Syndrome, Rubicon, Israel, Arabs, Peace Decision, Guarantee

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