On 14 May 1948, the
Israeli Declaration of Independence declared the establishment a
Jewish state in part of the former
British Mandate of Palestine, with borders formally established by the
Green Line of the
1949 Armistice Agreements at the end of the
1948 Palestine war. The
Arab League was opposed to any partition and to the establishment of
Israel, and an
Arab coalition jointly invaded the territory of the newly formed country one day after its independence, sparking the
1948 Arab–Israeli War. Following Israel's establishment, the
Israeli provisional government was established to govern the
Yishuv; and while military operations were still in progress, it was promptly granted
de facto recognition by the
United States, followed by
Iran (which had voted against the Partition Plan),
Guatemala,
Iceland,
Nicaragua,
Romania, and
Uruguay. The
Soviet Union was the first country to grant
de jure recognition to Israel on 17 May 1948, followed by Nicaragua,
Czechoslovakia,
Yugoslavia, and
Poland. The United States extended
de jure recognition after the
first Israeli election, on 31 January 1949. By the late 1960s, Israel had established diplomatic relations with almost all of the countries of
Western Europe,
North America,
South America, and
Sub-Saharan Africa combined. To put additional diplomatic, economic, and military pressure on Israel in the wake of the
1967 Arab–Israeli War, oil-producing Arab countries imposed
an oil embargo on countries that had bilateral relations with Israel. As a result, many African and Asian countries broke off their ties with Israel. The Soviet Union also
shifted its support in favour of the Arab cause against Israel during this time, leading most countries of the
Eastern Bloc to sever diplomatic ties in 1967; these included the Soviet Union itself, as well as Poland, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, and
Bulgaria. Other countries in the Soviet sphere of influence, such as the
People's Republic of China and
Mongolia, also did not establish relations with Israel. Diplomatic relations with these countries were restored or established following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in 1989. The Soviet Union restored relations in October 1991, and new countries that had gained independence after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union also recognised Israel in their own right. China established relations in January 1992. On 1 September 1967, the then-eight members of the Arab League issued the
Khartoum Resolution, which included three pledges that forbade recognition, peace, and negotiations with Israel. However,
Egypt,
Jordan, and
Mauritania gradually recognized Israel, though Mauritania broke off ties and withdrew recognition in 2010. As part of the
2020 Abraham Accords, the
United Arab Emirates,
Bahrain, and
Morocco all established normalized bilateral ties with Israel, with
Sudan announcing
its plan (never completed) to.
Pressure was again exerted by the Arab League after the
1973 Arab–Israeli War, which led
Cuba,
Mali, and the
Maldives to break off ties with Israel.
Niger severed bilateral ties with Israel during the
Second Intifada, and
Venezuela broke off ties after the
2008–2009 Gaza War. Following Israel's recognition of and entering into negotiations with the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), many African, Asian, and Arab countries either restored or established diplomatic relations with Israel. The
Vatican began a bilateral relationship with Israel in 1994. Some countries broke or suspended relations during the
2006 Lebanon War and after the
blockade of the Gaza Strip. Although
Guinea broke diplomatic ties with Israel in 1967, Israel's extensive support for Guinea during
its fight against an Ebola virus epidemic led to the re-establishment of bilateral relations in 2016. Nicaragua restored relations in March 2017;
Chad did likewise in January 2019. The most recent country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel was
Bhutan, on 12 December 2020. ==United Nations membership==