THE BIRTH OF ISRAEL

BACKGROUND

The British had to determine how to make the Mandate of Palestine into a new country

Zionists wanted a Jewish homeland in Palestine

Arabs wanted a country for themselves

WORLD WAR II

The Holocaust convinced many Europeans of the necessity of a Jewish homeland

40% of the world’s Jews were murdered by the Nazis

Survivors often had no families and no homes to return to, and looked for a fresh start elsewhere

THE BRITISH GIVE UP

By 1947, the British realize they have no answers, and turn the problem over to the United Nations

The UN develops a two state solution The land will be divided into Israel (Jewish) and Palestine (Arab)

Jerusalem will be an “international city”

Under this plan, Jews receive 50% of the land, even though they are only 30% of the people

THE RESULTS

Jews accepted the plan, but the Arabs rejected it-but the UN partitions the land anyway

May 14th 1948, Israel declares independence under David Ben Gurion

The British troops leave

THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE/AL NAKBA/1948 ARAB ISRAELI WAR The next day, five new Arab countries (Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and eventually Jordan) attack Israel

Israel formed an army that grew to 100,000 people

They bought bombers, tanks, and other weapons from the USA

ISRAEL WINS

Israel wins and gains more land-by the end of the war, they control 75% of the land and have a border with Jerusalem

Egypt occupies the Gaza Strip and Jordan occupies the West Bank

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled during the war are not allowed to return home (Al-Nakba, the catastrophe)