Arab-Israeli conflict 1948-9

1947-
 Introduction
• The land known as Palestine had, by 1947, seen
considerable immigration of Jewish peoples fleeing
persecution. Zionist Jews were particularly in favour of
getting Palestine as a new Jewish homeland.

• The local Palestinian population of Muslim Arabs felt that

the influx of newcomers was threatening their way of life.

• Clashes between the Arabic and Jewish populations had

been frequent and bloody.

• The British rulers of Palestine decided on a repression of

the Arabic people to keep the peace. By 1947 this had
achieved an unhappy calm between all three groups.
 May 15 1948?
• The United Nations Partition Plan (1947) had decided
that partition was the best way to stop the fighting in
Palestine. The Jews were to get c.55% of the land, and
the Arabs, 45%.
• Naturally the Palestinian Arabs rejected it out of hand.
• The Jewish - leader Ben-Gurion -gave it a cautious
welcome.
• All sides knew, however, that the British rule was coming
to an end. Their ‘Mandate’ (permission) to rule only
lasted until May15 1948.
• Both sides waited for the momentous day- to see who
would be able to take what.
• The whole world watched with baited breath……!
May 14, 1948-Israeli Independence
Day.
• The Arabic Palestinians, led by the Arab Higher
Committee, moved first. There was a wave of
anti-Jewish protests, Jewish shops were looted,
and Jewish people attacked.
• The Jewish provisional government decided that
they had to act independently. They felt that they
had to act for themselves- and not wait for the
British to leave.
• May 14, 1948 The Prime Minister Ben Gurion
declared the Independence of Israel,only one
day before the end of the mandate, and in a
climate of fear and violence.
David Ben Gurion.1886-1976
•Prime Minister of Israel 1948-1953, and
1955-1963.
•Born in Poland. He left in 1906 because
of pogroms.
•Joined the British army in 1918 and
got military experience.
•Ardent Zionist but not an extremist.
Refused terrorism as a
political tool.

•Urged Jews to form military self-

defence force (Haganah).
•Declared Israeli independence despite
Jewish opposition!
(Passed 6-4)
•Credited with unifying all Jewish forces
into one IDS (Israeli defence
force)
David Ben-Gurion declares Israel’s
Independence May 14, 1948

Israel was quickly recognised by the USA and Russia.

They were powerful, and rich, friends.
 1948-9 Israeli War of
Independence.
• Arab League countries declared war on
the new Israel immediately. Egypt, Iraq,
Syria, Jordan and Lebanon all planned
invasions.

• The idea was to crush Israel before it

could become established.
 1948 Arab Invasion plans of Israel ( in red.)
From Lebanon and Syria

From
Transjordan
and Iraq

From Egypt
Israeli Defence Force. (IDF)

•Ben Gurion realised immediately that Israel needed to concentrate all

her soldiers. All armed units- Zionist, or otherwise -were
amalgamated into one force, the IDF. Arab forces were,
conversely, dispersed and under separate control.
•To begin with the Israelis relied on what they had learned in WWII and
from helping the British army. Equipment was scarce and usually
old. In time, however, more supplies arrived and Israel’s military
technology by 1949 was superior to the Arabs’.
•But before this happened the Israelis relied on sheer enthusiasm and
superior military intelligence. Israel won the air war, for example,
by better strategy, rather than better technology.
 The war itself.
• It was a disaster for the Arabic nations.
The Israeli forces were far stronger than
any of them expected.
• Many Jews had fought in World War II and
they had reasonable weaponry-mostly
also from World war II.
• The Jewish army also greatly increased in
size, whereas the Arab forces grew only
slowly..
 Army sizes.
• Israeli Forces 1948 •Arab forces 1948
• Initial strength29,677
• 4 June40,825 •July 40,000
• 17 July63,586
• 7 October88,033 •October 55,000
• 28 October92,275
• 2 December106,900
• 23 December107,652
• 30 December108,300
•January 60,000
 The Avia S-199 Israel’s first fighter plane.

World War II experts may recognise it- it is, ironically, the old
German Messerschmitt BF 109 which was now used by Israel to
fight it’s old enemy the Spitfire- now being flown by the Egyptians.
Israel also managed to buy some Spitfires too!
 Israeli children today still make
models of their nation’s first plane.
Old military equipment. This gun was pre-World War One vintage.
Arab soldiers firing on an Israeli
settlement.
Motorised weaponry.
 Results of the war.
• Only the Jordanians and the Egyptians made
any real gains. The Jordanians grabbed East
Jerusalem and the ‘West Bank’ land. The
Egyptians gained a strip of coast-line called
the ‘Gaza strip’.
• Elsewhere the Arabic forces were all pushed
back.
• 1949 the United Nations declared a cease-fire
on the ‘Green Line’.
• Israel signed armistice agreements with all the
Arab states.
• Israel had expanded by another 25%!
 Israel
‘West Bank’-Jordanian

Gaza Strip-Egyptian
 Nakba ‘disaster’
• Up to ¾ of a million Arab Palestinians lost
their homes in the war and fled South or
East.
• Massive refugee camps sprang up and
conditions were horrific.
• These camps proved ideal places for Arab
resistance movements to begin recruiting
members.
Palestinian
Arab
refugees.
The seeds of years of
future discontent ?
 More refugees…..
• Meanwhile Jewish people fled in the
opposite directions- into Israel or back to
Europe, or even to the USA.

• Israel’s population doubled as Arabic

states all expelled their Jewish population.
 Point of principal.
• For now, Israel had won her right to exist.

• The Arab league had to think again before

challenging this right.
• Palestinians who had lost homes were a
strong voice of protest against the new
state.
• Ben Gurion was a national hero.