Original sentence: A typical example was the statement by Field Marshall Montgomery, commander of the victorious Allied armies in North Africa and Northern Europe, that the new State of Israel would be defeated within two weeks.By mid-May 1948, the IDF was fielding 65,000 troops; by early spring 1949, 115,000.However in retrospect, the Arab forces appear to have been inferior to the IDF.This imbalance in ordnance, along with the entry into the fray of the regular, well-equipped and trained forces of the armies from the neighboring Arab states, led to a nearly universal, world military opinion about the outcome of the conflict
Edited sentence: By mid-May 1948 the IDF was fielding 65,000 troops; by early spring 1949, 115,000.In fact, the Arab forces were inferior to the IDF