50 Years War, The: Israel And The Arabs

"A complex political story given a human face." -TimeOut

Leading statesmen, generals, terrorists and others who made the headlines in one of history's most bitter and enduring struggles tell the story of the Arab-Israeli conflict in The 50 Years War: Israel And The Arabs. Opening with the U.N. decision to partition Palestine in 1947, the program charts the ensuing half-century of enmity, warfare, mediation and negotiation.


Among the current and former heads of state and prime ministers interviewed or featured in the series are Benjamin Netanyahu, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Shamir of Israel; King Hussein of Jordan; Yasir Arafat of the Palestine authority; Hafez al-Assad of Syria; Jafaar Numeiry of Sudan; and U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Jimmy Carter. Also appearing are foreign ministers, defense ministers, commanders in the field, heads of intelligence and guerrilla leaders, as well as high-ranking officials in the United States and the former Soviet Union.


Two years in the making, The 50 Years War was filmed in Israel, the Palestinian autonomous areas, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the U.S. and Russia. The first episode covers Israel's struggle for statehood, including the surprising victories against Arab armies in 1948 and 1967. The film also traces the history of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. The concluding program features a fresh behind-the-scenes history of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the Camp David peace accord in 1978, the start of the Palestinian "Intifada" uprising in 1987, the Oslo agreement in 1993, and the current attempts to consolidate a shaky reconciliation.