Stefan Sharkansky has posted what is probably the most concise history of modern Israel I've ever read.

Before the 20th century, Palestine was merely a sparsely populated backwater of an Ottoman province that had both Jewish and Arab communities and a lot of vacant land. Jews started immigrating to Palestine in larger numbers in Ottoman days, as did Arabs. The Jewish intention was to form a homeland, while the Arab animus was to prevent the formation of any Jewish entity. (Jews were only ever tolerated in the Arab world as second class citizens under Muslim rule). At every successive stage in the conflict --1930s, 1948, 1967, 2000 -- there is a Jewish/Israeli offer to share the land, an Arab rejection of sharing, followed by Arab violence, an Israeli military victory which leaves the Arabs with even less land than they had earlier, and then an Arab vow to continue the struggle until final victory, condemnation of Israel by the "international community" and offers from the Israeli peace camp to make the Arabs whole for Israel's sins.