{

The Second World War and the creation of the State of Israel

Sarah Leong, Kayle Cleland, and Ebony Harris

-Zionism (Belief that Palestine rightfully belongs to the Jewish people) becomes prominent

Palestine under British control Arabic discontent White paper 1939 SS Struma “We will fight the war as if there is no White

Paper, and we will fight the White paper as if there is no war

WW2 impact on Palestine leading up to the issue of separate states

Mandate of Israel- British possession

Stage 1:- The British mandate was unpopular amongst the Jews in

‘Israel.’- Chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive and later Prime

Minister David Ben-Gurion, "We will fight Hitler as if no white paper existed and we will fight the white paper as if Hitler did not exist."

- The Irgun (Jewish National Military Organization) spilt from Avraham Stern & LEHI (Freedom Fighters of Israel.)

- In 1942 Stern was arrested and killed by the British but his legacy lived on.

- On February the first 1942, the leader of the other half of the Irgun, Menachem Begin announced that the Irgun was to start fighting against the British

Stage 2:- In 1947 due to pressure and violence from the

Jews, the British withdrew and handed the mandate over to the UN

- United Nations Special Committee on Palestine: sent by UN to prepare report, 11 members (Sweden, Australia, Canada, Holland, Czech, Yugoslavia, Indian, Iran, Guatemala, Peru, Uruguay)

- Decided on two-state solution- Arab state and Jewish state- Resolution 181

Mandate of Israel- UN possession

May 1948: On the same day Israel was declared independent, Arab forces invaded

Israel vs League of Arab States; Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia

New Israel State Independence vs Palestine as a unitary state

Series of conflicts

The 1948 Arab-Israeli War

• Mid-May-11 June:- Israel surprisingly kept Arab armies pushed back- Truce was called by the UN but was rejected

• 8-18 July:- Fighting continued, heavy

battles with the Egyptian and Syrian forces

- Still Israeli forces dominated• 15 Oct- 20 July 1949: - “Green Line”: Israeli army

extended borders 50% larger than UN allowed

- Armistice Agreement: separate peace treaties signed between Israel and Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria

Israeli victory over Arab defeat

The 1948 Arab-Israeli War

Arab vs IsraeliArab Weaknesses Israeli Strengths

- The armies were not united under any form of leadership

- Haganah group became the Israel Defense Forces, totaling 100,000 fighters

- They acted separately and suspiciously on one another

- Well trained with experience from WWII

- They could not coordinate their attacks

- Well equipped with arms from Czechoslovakia and secretly imported B-17 bombers

- Negotiated separate peace talks

- Farmland provided geographic defense

- Lost 7,000 soldiers - Lost 6,000 soldiers (1% of the population)

Sent in Count Folke Bernadotte as an UN mediator to re-enforce Resolution 181

Both sides rejected and questioned his appeals

Was assassinated, mid-truce, in September by an Israeli group

UN Involvement

Left behind a violent and continuing legacy… Israeli side:- Increased land coverage- Increased nationalism- ½ million Jewish settlers- Still not recognized by Arab states Arab side:- Palestinian refugees, totaling 2,000,000- Palestinians were harassed by the Israeli army, forced to follow Jewish

rules, and were economically dependent on the Jewish job market- A major blow to Arab pride and unity Led to additional conflicts/later effects- Six Day War 1967- Resolution 242- “Crossing” War 1973- Israeli-Jordanian Peace Treaty 1979- Palestinian Liberation Organization- Intifada- Involvement of international powers like the US

The Legacy

AICE (2012) The Israeli War of Independence (1948). [online] Available at: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/1948_War.html [Accessed: 26 Aug 2012].

Trueman, C. (2010) Israel and the 1948 War. [online] Available at: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/israel_and_the_1948_war.htm [Accessed: 26 Aug 2012].

Habibi, M. et al. (2010) History of Europe and the Middle East. New York: Oxford Universtiy Press, p.209-215.

Jewishagency.org (1986) The Ben Gurion Years Activities [online] Available at http://jewishagency.org/Jewishagency/english/Jewish+education/compelling content/

Jewishvirtuallibrary.org (1948) The Declaration Of The Establishment Of The State Of Israel. [online] Available at: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Dec_of_Indep.html [Accessed: 27 Aug 2012].

Stateofisrael.com (2000) World War II. [online] Available at: http://www.stateofisrael.com/arab-israel/worldwarii/ [Accessed: 27 Aug 2012].

Bibliography