ARAB-ISRAELI WARS

ARAB-ISRAELI WARS

Since the United Nations partition of PALESTINE in 1947 and the
establishment of the modern state of ISRAEL in 1948, there have been four
major Arab-Israeli wars (1947-49, 1956, 1967, and 1973) and numerous
intermittent battles. Although Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in
1979, hostility between Israel and the rest of its Arab neighbors,
complicated by the demands of Palestinian Arabs, continued into the 1980s.

THE FIRST PALESTINE WAR (1947-49)

The first war began as a civil conflict between Palestinian Jews and
Arabs following the United Nations recommendation of Nov. 29, 1947, to
partition Palestine, then still under British mandate, into an Arab state
and a Jewish state. Fighting quickly spread as Arab guerrillas attacked
Jewish settlements and communication links to prevent implementation of the
UN plan.

Jewish forces prevented seizure of most settlements, but Arab
guerrillas, supported by the Transjordanian Arab Legion under the command
of British officers, besieged Jerusalem. By April, Haganah, the principal
Jewish military group, seized the offensive, scoring victories against the
Arab Liberation Army in northern Palestine, Jaffa, and Jerusalem. British
military forces withdrew to Haifa; although officially neutral, some
commanders assisted one side or the other.

After the British had departed and the state of Israel had been
established on May 15, 1948, under the premiership of David BEN-GURION, the
Palestine Arab forces and foreign volun...

ARAB-ISRAELI WARS

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