War To Become Independant (1947-1949)

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                  

Across the entirety of Mandatory Palestine in 1947:  The 12 Tribes with Joshua totaled 601,730  at their last census at their arrival.  

• The total Jewish population was approximately 630,000 (about 32% of the total population of roughly 1.97 million).  In the specific area of Jerusalem (part of the historical Judean region), estimates show about 120,000 Jews lived there, including roughly 2,000 in the Old City's Jewish Quarter.  Israel’s War of Independence (known in Arabic as Al-Nakba and broadly as the 1948 Arab–Israeli War) lasted fromNovember 30, 1947, to July 20, 1949.  (almost 2 years)

• Partition Plan: On November 29, 1947, the United Nations passed Resolution 181 to partition British-ruled Mandatory Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, which Arab leaders rejected. 
• Civil War Phase (Nov 30, 1947 – May 14, 1948): Began as an internal civil war between Jewish and Arab communities within Palestine. (about 6 months worth of fighting) 
• Declaration of Independence: On May 14, 1948, as the British Mandate officially expired, David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel.                                                        
  
          Haganah on patrol 
• Interstate War Phase (May 15, 1948 – July 1949): The day after the declaration, a military coalition of neighboring Arab nations—including Egypt, Transjordan (Jordan), Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon—invaded the former mandate territory.  Jewish forces were organize mostly in the Haganah , their underground militia made in secret from British forces, and had a full-time fighters of about 4,000, mostly members of the Palmah.  The Haganah restricted itself to defense of settlements and communications and limited retaliation. Early in 1948, the 1st attack on a Jewish village (Tirat Tzevi) happed, which proved  unsuccessful.  In larger cities, Arabs used terrorist methods, even back then.  By March the Arabs attacked roads and towns with mixed populations, like the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Road was fiercely attacked.  Jewish Jerusalem was cut off except  a few light aeroplanes.
  
  
  
• Then, Czechoslovakia  sent the Jews a 1st consignment of arms and the road to Jerusalem was eventually reopened.  Meanwhile attacks on the Jews continued from a Syrian group and Druze.  By April, the Haganah counter-attacked, overrunning Tiberias, opening the road to Galilee, and capturing Haifa and the Katamon suburb in Jerusalem.  By May, Safed and the S. Huleh district came into Jewish hands with Acre and most of W. Galilee.  Internal Arab resistance was ended, but on May 15, with the ending of the Mandate, the states of the Arab League which were armies from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, and a token force from Saudi Arabia invaded the country.  
• Jews had to build a road they called the Burma Road for the transport or food and ammunition from the Jewish-held Plain of Aijalon.  Egyptians were held back from attack through the Negev, and occupied Gaza and Beersheba, but here held back by a chain of Jewish settlements and at Ashdod, 21 miles south of Tel Aviv.  They had to give up trying to isolate the Negev.  
• Armistice Agreements: The war concluded through a series of UN-mediated armistice agreements signed in 1949 (ending with Syria on July 20, 1949). In different months, separate armistice agreements were signed with Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Iraq and Saudi Arabia did not want to sign a thing.  
Outcomes and Impact
• Territory: Israel survived and expanded its territory beyond the original UN Partition Plan boundaries. Transjordan took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip. Approximately 6,373 Jews (including soldiers, militia members, and civilians) were killed during the 1947–1949 War of Independence.