Creation of the State of Israel

## **British Period**

The Land today part of the UISR was once mostly part of Mandatory Palestine, a Colonial Government headed by the British, that was established sometime between 1920-1922.

The British Era saw lots of Conlfict between Local Jews & Arabs, and After the British didn't want to protect Jewish Citizens from Arab Violence, Some Jewish Militias started to Pop up.

The Three Main Jewish Militias were; **Haganah**, a Socialist-Zionist Militia lead by David Ben-Gurion, **Irgun/Etzel**, a Revisionist-Zionist Militia lead by Ze'ev Jabotinsky (and later Menachem Begin), and **Lehi**, a Fascist and Pro-Axis Militia, Lead by Avraham "Yair" Stern (They were also Known as the Stern Gang).

On November 29th, 1947, The United Nations Passed **Resolution 181 (II)**, proclaiming that the British Mandatory Palestine will soon have both a Jewish State and an Arab State. This Resolution, even though it was accepted and celebrated by the Jews, was rejected by the Arabs, and thus Started the **Palestine Civil War**.

## **Mandatory Palestine Civil War**

While the Jews & Arabs were killing eachother, the British were too busy withdrawing from Palestine. The Jewish Forces knew they had to get international Support, and thus, They started to recieve some support from the West, but Much More Support from the Communist Bloc, especially from Stalin's USSR and Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia started to supply Arms to the Jews, and later on to the State of Israel.

During the War, there were 3 Sides; The Jews (Which Included Haganah, Irgun, Lehi, Foreign Volunteers, and Allied Bedouin Tribes), The Arabs (Which Included Army of the Holy War, Arab Liberation Army, Arab Legion & Transjordan), and the British Military Forces in Mandatory Palestine.

## **Independence War**

On May 14th, 1948, Just Hours before the Final Withdrawal of all British Forces from Palestine, Inside the Former Home of the First Mayor of Tel-Aviv, Me'ir Dizengoff (Now the House is known as Independence Hall), Ben-Gurion and other fellow members of the Jewish Agency Declared the Independence of the State of Israel.

The Next Day, the Armies of the Arab league (Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Yemen) Invaded Palestine, in order to Crush the Fledgling State of Israel.

### *First Phase (15 May-11 June 1948)*

The Egyptians Attacked through the Negev, trying to meet with the Jordanians in Hebron, but were stopped just South of Be'er-Sheva.

They also tried to move on to Tel-Aviv via the Coast, but were stopped during the Battle of Ad-Halom by the IDF.

The Jordanians attacked the Valley Area around Be'it-Shean and the Areas of the Sharon, around Netanya, but did not manage to take them, and were Repelled. They also Laid Siege to Jerusalem, and Jerusalem would have to suffer through a long and gruelling Siege. To try and counter the Blockade of the Siege, and to try and go around Latrun (which the Israelis tried to take many times, but couldn't manage to), There was a Secret Road Constructed, Nicknamed the "Burma Road".

The Syrians & Lebanese had also Attacked The Galilee.

### *Second Phase (8-18 July 1948/ Ten Days Battles)*

The Egyptains Ended the Truce that started on June 11th by Attacking Negba, and The IAF would start attacking from the Air, all the Way from Quneitra to Al-Arish, and the Egyptians Bombed Tel-Aviv.

The Fighting during these 10 Days was dominated by Israeli Offensives, as they also got some Lifelines for some Besieged Kibbutzim.

During the Offensives, the Most Important Operation was "Operation Danny", which had saw the IDF Take Lydda Airport (Now Ben-Gurion International Airport), Lydda, Ramla, and the IDF Also Managed to make a bigger Corridor for the Road to Jerusalem.

### *Third Phase (15 October 1948-10 March 1949)*

The Third Phase saw Excessive amounts of Israeli Offensives, in order to drive out the Arab Forces.

### *1949 Armistice Agreements*

Israel signed armistices with Egypt (24 February), Lebanon (23 March), Jordan (3 April) and Syria (20 July). No actual peace agreements were signed. With permanent ceasefire coming into effect, Israel's new borders, later known as the Green Line, were established. These borders were not recognized by the Arab states as international boundaries. Israel was in control of the Galilee, Jezreel Valley, West Jerusalem, the coastal plain and the Negev. The Syrians remained in control of a strip of territory along the Sea of Galilee originally allocated to the Jewish state, the Lebanese occupied a tiny area at Rosh Hanikra, and the Egyptians retained the Gaza strip and still had some forces surrounded inside Israeli territory. Jordanian forces remained in the West Bank, where the British had stationed them before the war. Jordan annexed the areas it occupied while Egypt kept Gaza as an occupied zone.

Following the ceasefire declaration, Britain released over 2,000 Jewish detainees it was still holding in Cyprus and recognized the state of Israel. On 11 May 1949, Israel was admitted as a member of the United Nations. Out of an Israeli population of 650,000, some 6,000 men and women were killed in the fighting, including 4,000 soldiers in the IDF (approximately 1% of the population). According to United Nations figures, 726,000 Palestinians had fled or were expelled by the Israelis between 1947 and 1949 Except in Jordan, the Palestinian refugees were settled in large refugee camps in poor, overcrowded conditions and denied citizenship by their host countries. In December 1949, the UN (in response to a British proposal) established an agency (UNRWA) to provide aid to the Palestinian refugees. It became the largest single UN agency and is the only UN agency that serves a single people.

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Ben-Gurion and Sharett Governments