Conscription
introduced to the
Haganah for all 17 to 25
year old men and
women. The force was
eventually increased to
100,000 people.
Armaments were ordered from the
Skoda factory in Czechslovakia such as
rifles, machine guns and fighter aircraft.
These were, ironically, the latest versions
produced by the Nazis but never used.
Arab preparations
The Arab League supplied
10,000 rifles to the
Palestinians
The Arab League
assisted in the
organisation of an Arab
Liberation Army of
3,000 volunteers to
fight against Israel.
With the British withdrawal coming closer and
the UN plan approved the Arabs and Jews
prepared themselves for a struggle by
accessing and taking control of key areas. In
April 1948 the Jews captured Haifa, a major
port, from the Arabs and also attacked and
seized villages and roads between Jaffa and
Jerusalem. This divided Arab areas and helped
the Jews gain a strategic advantage. Also,
many thousands of Arabs fled the fighting,
especially thanks to the Deir Yassin massacre,
making it easier for the Jews in their battle for
the Jerusalem roads.
Key phases of the war
The war started on the 15th May, this was the day the Jewish
state was formed. The first phase was when Israel was
invaded by the states of the Arab League. 30,000 soldiers
invaded Israel however they invaded separately with different
aims. Jordanian forces fought hard but only for Jerusalem and
the West Bank and Egypt invaded northwards along the strip
of land on the coast.
The second phase of the war was when the Jews
fought back and were victorious after a month long
truce arranged by the UN. This truce enabled them to
reorganize and bring in weapons and supplies
previously purchased from Czechoslovakia. After the
truce the Jews enjoyed a successful period of pushing
back the Egyptian forces on the coast to Gaza and
seized territory from Jordanian and Syrian forces in
central and northern Palestine. After securing the
Negev desert and the whole of the Galilee the Arabs
began to make separate truces.
Reason for Israeli victory
The Israelis were determined to create a
national homeland
Israelis were able to purchase a large number
of military supplies from abroad.
Good leadership in the Israeli military and better organised
Israelis were experience from fighting both British and
Palestinians.
Arab states were poorly equipped and badly trained.
Arab states were not prepared to unite
fully and were suspicious of each other.
Lack of Arab willpower to see
the conflict through when faced
with stout opposition.
Palestinians lacked good organisation and good leadership.
Israeli forces were expanded rapidly and soon
outnumbered the Arab states
Consequences of the war
Arab states agreed a truce but refused to
recognise the state of Israel.
Large numbers of Palestinian refugees fled from
Israel settling across the borders in neighbouring
Arab states
Some Palestinian refugees organised into squads
of militia groups determined to strike at Israel.
Israel was placed on a permanent war footing
Israel expanded and was recognised by most of the
international community
Larger numbers of Jews began to move to Israel
The Arab states entered a period of crisis and
new governments came to power.
The war increased the suspicion in the Arab
world that the West was pro-Israel.