Israel's objectives for the war were originally based on the Haganah's 1946 Plan and run by David Ben-Gurion. The plan called for the rapid build-up of forces to fight against what the army saw as the greatest threat: invasion from the many Arab states. By using the 1946 Plan, Ben-Gurion hoped to secure the land given to Israel in the UN Partition Plan. As the war went on, the goals changed slightly with the introduction in March 1948 of Plan Dalet (Plan D). Instead of simply holding the lands given to Israel, the plan now commanded Israel's forces to work remove Arabs from Jewish-controlled land, defend Jewish settlements in Arab Palestine, and to take Arab land at particular positions for a strategic advantage. A possible reason for the change is given by historian David Tal, who points out that it was probably a response to the stiffer resistance from Palestinians and a general desire to put Israeli forces in the most defensible positions. Yet, as Tal also points out, this strategic plan has never been without some controversy, particularly the part of the plan which forced Palestinian movement.
The principal objective for the Palestinians, as expressed by the Arab Higher Committee, was the creation of a single Arab state in Palestine.
While Transjordan outwardly agreed with the rest of the Arab League in creating an Arab state in Palestine, that seems to have not been Transjordan's ultimate goal. According to the records of Transjordan, King Abdullah, Transjordan's Hashemite (royal family) monarch, was interested in using the war as an excuse to put Palestinian Arabs under Jordanian control. This would then put him into a position to seize Syria and create a Greater Syria. This means that Transjordan's objectives were seemingly in opposition to those Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and the Palestinians themselves.
Like Transjordan, both Syria and Egypt supported creating a single Arab state in Palestine. Their reasoning, however, was more about stopping the spread of Jordanan, who both nations feared (should Transjordan take the region).
The first part of the conflict pitted the Yishuv's forces against those of the Palestinian's Arab Higher Committee. The civil war began with three days of strikes on November 30, 1947. It then changed into a guerrilla campaign against Jewish supply trucks. In January 1948, the Arab Liberation Army entered Palestine. This stiff resistance caused the Israelis to adapt their plan and to introduce Plan Dalet. On April 5th, the Haganah launched Operation Nahshon, a fifteen-day operation to secure routes to Jerusalem by seizing hills along the main roads. After the success of Operation Nahshon and smaller Jewish offensives, Palestinian resistance began to fall apart.
The second part of the war began with the invasion of Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, and Syria in May 1948. Each invasion force basically entered Palestine on the nearest border. Fighting in the West Bank and around Jerusalem dominated this phase of the war. Jewish forces moved into Jerusalem to secure the western section of the city. To shore up this position, Israeli forces also tried to take Latrun, a hill to the north of Jerusalem. This proved unsuccessful. In other areas, the Israelis found greater success. Two Egyptian forces, one moving along the coast and the other across the Negev towards Jerusalem, were both halted. The Iraqi force was pushed back. Though Syrian and Lebanese forces made an advance into Israeli territories, Israelis made counter advances into Syrian and Lebanese territory. Fighting was brought to an end by a UN truce on June 11.
On July 9th, the Israelis launched a new series of operations against the Jordanians in the West Bank. The hope was to end the conflict in this front against what Israelis considered to be the most well-trained and armed Arab army, Transjordan's Arab Legion. The offensives were largely a success and although other Arab nations tried to take advantage of Israel's focus on the West Bank, their advances were small. This phase of the war ended with another truce on July 18, 1948.
With the Jordanians stuck in the West Bank, Israelis launched two more offensives on October 15th. These forced Egyptian forces out of the Negev Desert and pushed back Syrian and Lebanese forces into their own countries. Following these last offensives, the military part of the war ended. Still, it would take until January 7, 1949 for Israel to complete signing treaties with each warring nation.
Through the war, Israel gained a large amount of land. While the original separation lines gave about equal land to Jewish and Arab states, the treaty lines of 1949 gave Israel a much larger state, limiting Arab-controlled land to the small Gaza strip and a smaller West Bank (than in 1947. Yet, these were not controlled by any Palestinian government. Instead, Egypt controlled the small Gaza Strip while Jordan controlled the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem.
An additional aspect to the aftermath of the war was the Palestinian refugee crisis. By the end of the war, there were approximately 720,000 refugees living in camps in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Although much of this can be attributed to war-time fear, some historians, like James Gelvin, assert that Israeli policy in Plan Dalet partially contributed to this crisis. The policy, which encouraged Israeli forces to seize Arab property in Jewish territory, exacerbated the refugee issue. As of 2015, the right of these refugees to return to their former homes or to receive reparations remains uncertain.
Dale D. Myers
Dale Dehaven Myers (January 8, 1922 – May 19, 2015) was an American aerospace engineer for NASA. He served as Deputy Administrator of NASA, serving between October 6, 1986 and May 13, 1989. He was well known for his work on the Apollo program.
Myers was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington in 1943. He was married to Marge Myers and had two children. He lost his eye in a car accident.
Myers died on May 19, 2015 at his retirement home in La Costa, California. He was 93.
Shone An
An Jun Can (; 20 September 1983 – 1 June 2015), better known as Shone An, was a Taiwanese singer and actor. From 2002 until 2005, he was a member of the mandopop boy band Comic Boyz. He also appeared in many movie, television and theatre productions such as "Case Sensitive" (2011), "Rhapsody of Marriage" (2012) and "Turn Around" (2014). He was also a guest host on "100% Entertainment". He was born in Tainan.
Shone An died from liver cancer on 1 June 2015 in Tainan, aged 31.
Weddell seal
The Weddell seal ("Leptonychotes weddellii") is a seal that is common in Antarctica. It is named after James Weddell, who discovered it. Estimations are that there are half a million to a million of these animals left, which makes it the most common seal in Antarctica, after the Crabeater seal. During the winter, most Weddel seals do not migrate northwards. Instead, they keep open a hole in the ice, by gnawing it with their teeth.
Joan Kirner
Joan Elizabeth Kirner (née Hood; 20 June 1938 – 1 June 2015) was an Australian politician, educator and activist. She was a Labor Party member of the Parliament of Victoria from 1982 to 1994. She was the 42nd Premier of Victoria, serving from 10 August 1990 until 6 October 1992. She was also the 21st Deputy Premier of Victoria from 7 February 1989 until 10 August 1990, and Leader of the Opposition of Victoria from 6 October 1992 until March 1993.
Kirner was born in Essendon, Melbourne. She was married to Ronald George Kirner and had three children.
Kirner died from oesophageal cancer on 1 June 2015 in Melbourne, aged 76.
Sherborne
Sherborne is a market town in northwest Dorset, in South West England. It is on the River Yeo, east of Yeovil. The A30 road, which goes from London to Penzance, runs through the town.