1947.11.14-1949.03.10 - 1948 Arab-Israeli War

Sources

1. “1948 Arab–Israeli War” Wikipedia. Accessed April 26th, 2024.
2. Ben-Ami, Shlomo. Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy. Cary: Oxford University Press USA - OSO, 2007.

Belligerents

1. Israel (Yishuv, before May 26th, 1948)
   1. Notable Leaders
      1. David Ben-Gurion
      2. Yitzhak Rabin
      3. Moshe Dayan
   2. 29,677 troops initially, rising to 117,500
   3. Paramilitary groups 2. Haganah 1. Palmach 2. Hish 3. Him 3. Irgun 4. Lehi
   4. Israel Defense Forces (after May 26th, 1948)
      1. Minorities Unit
   5. Allied Bedouin Tribes
   6. Mahal

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1. Arab League
   1. 13,000 initially troops, 51,100 - 63,500 finally
   2. Egypt
      1. 10,000 troops initially, rising to 20,000
      2. All-Palestine Protectorate (after September 22nd, 1948)
   3. Transjordan
      1. 7,500-10,000 troops
   4. Iraq
      1. 2,000 troops initially, rising to 15,000-18,000
   5. Syria
      1. 2,500 - 5,000 troops
   6. Lebanon
      1. 436 troops
   7. Saudi Arabia
      1. 800 - 1,200 troops (under Egyptian command)
   8. Yemen
      1. 300 troops
   9. Arab Liberation Army
      1. 500 - 6,000 troops
   10. Holy War Army

Casualties and losses

1. Israel
   1. 6,373 killed (about 4,000 fighters, 2,400 civilians)

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1. Arab Armies
   1. 3,700 - 7,000 killed
2. Palestinian Arabs
   1. 3,000 - 13,000 killed (both fighters and civilians)

Location

• Mandatory Palestine

Causes

Events

Ben-Ami, Shlomo. Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy. (p. 34)

The paradox of the winter of 1947 was that the Jews, who accepted Resolution 181–the Jewish public acclaimed its endorsement by the UN with genuine outbursts of jubilation–were ready and well deployed to face a war should this be the outcome, and the Arabs, who rejected the Resolution out of hand and made no secret of their intention to subvert it, were not at all prepared for war. Ben-Gurion, who upon his appointment as the ‘defence minister’ of the Jewish Agency in 1946 made it clear that the time had now arrived for ‘a showdown of force, a Jewish military showdown’, had been for some time meticulously preparing for a war he was convinced, at least ever since the Arab Revolt, was inevitable. The Palestinians, who on 1 December 1947 made their views clear when the Arab Higher Committee declared a general strike, were totally unprepared and poorly equipped for an armed conflict. Arab society had been crumbling from within ever since the brutal repression of the 1936–9 Revolt. Leaderless and decapitated of their traditional elites, deeply fragmented, respectful and frightened of the Yishuv’s military power, and disorientated as to their real or achievable objectives, the Palestinians approached the imminent conflict and, as it turned out, their second catastrophe in a decade, in a state of disarray and fatalistic despair.

• Israel declares independence at Tel Aviv on May 14th, 1948.
• War had two main phases, the first began on November 30th, 1947.
  • First phase mainly fought between Jewish and Palestinian Arab militias, supported by the Arab Liberation Army and the surrounding Arab states. Escalated at the end of March 1948, when Jews went on the offensive.
• After Arabs fled Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem, the US pulled out of the Partition Plan while the British supported the annexation of the Arab part of Palestine by Transjordan.
• Funds raised by Golda Meir and Stalin’s support allowed Israel to purchase weapons from Eastern Europe, namely Czechoslovakia.
• May 14th, 1948, the last British troops and personnel departed Haifa, and the Jewish leadership declared the establishment of the state of Israel.
• Second phase of the war began in May of 1948, the Arab-Israeli War, when invasion happens after Jewish leadership declares independence.
  • Invading countries were Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan and Syria, supported by the Arab Liberation Army and corps of volunteers from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Yemen
• Plan Dalet
  • Forced expulsion and control of areas that extended beyond the proposed partition borders. Some (Zionists) claim that this was a defensive action to secure the future safety and borders of the new country, Israel, others claim this was purely an offensive territorial conquest aimed to ethnically cleanse the surrounding lands of Arabs to make it fertile for future Jews to settle.

Outcome

• In 1949, Israel signed separate Armistice agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria to establish these temporary military borders.
  • Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip and had a demilitarized zone around ‘Uja al-Hafeer.
  • Lebanon agreed to international boundary between Lebanon and Mandatory Palestine.
  • Jordanian forces remained in East Jerusalem and other positions held by them.
    • Also allowed to take over positions previously held by Iraqi forces.
  • Syria maintained 66 square kilometers in the Jordan Valley, designated as DMZs.
  • Iraq had no formal agreement as they withdrew their forces.
  • The new military borders, as set by the agreements, encompassed about 78% of Mandatory Palestine.
• Over 700,000 displaced Palestinians that fled or were expelled from their land as a result.
• Over 700,000 Jews exodus from Arab and Muslim lands in the 3 years following the war, fleeing into Israel.
• Established Israel as an independent state (founded by David Ben-Gurion), recognized immediately by Truman (U.S.) and Stalin (USSR).

Important Notes

• Known to Israel as the War of Independence, and to the Palestinians as al-Nakba.