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Do not fill this in! ==== Establishment and early years ==== {{further|Israeli Declaration of Independence}} [[File:Declaration of State of Israel 1948.jpg|thumb|right|[[David Ben-Gurion]] declaring the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|establishment of Israel]] on 14 May 1948]] On 14 May 1948, the day before the expiration of the British Mandate, [[David Ben-Gurion]], the head of the Jewish Agency, [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|declared]] "the establishment of a Jewish state in [[Eretz-Israel]], to be known as the State of Israel."<ref>Clifford, Clark, "Counsel to the President: A Memoir", 1991, p. 20.</ref> The only reference in the text of the Declaration to the borders of the new state is the use of the term ''Eretz-Israel'' ("[[Land of Israel]]").{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} The following day, the armies of four Arab countries—[[Kingdom of Egypt|Egypt]], [[Syrian Republic (1946–63)|Syria]], [[Jordan|Transjordan]] and [[Kingdom of Iraq|Iraq]]—entered into parts of what had been British Mandatory Palestine, launching the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]];<ref>{{cite book |trans-quote=The entry into (the) war of the Arab countries poses a complex legal problem. The crossing of the borders can constitute an act of aggression or a threat against peace, justifying a condemnation and an intervention by the United Nations, but if the armies penetrate only the Arab part of the partition plan, they can be considered as called on (to do so) by the population and at this stage their '''intervention''' would not in itself be a threat against the peace. That would only start were the Jewish part attacked. Now, the Arab armies do directly threaten Jewish territory at certain points while in others the Jews have already largely taken up positions in Arab territory. |quote=L'entrée en guerre des pays arabes pose un problem juridique complexe. Le franchissement des frontières peut constituer un acte d'aggression ou une menace contre la paix, justifiant une condannation et une intervention des Nations unies, mais si les armées pénètrent seulement dans la partie arabe du plan de partage, elles peuvent être considérées comme appelées par la population et à ce stade leur intervention ne serait pas par elle-même une menace contre la paix. Elle ne commencerait qu'avec l'attaque de la partie juive. Or, en certains points, les armées arabes menacent directement le territoire juif et dans d'autres les Juifs se sont déjà largement installés en territoire arabe. |author-link=Henry Laurens (scholar) |author=Henry Laurens |title=La Question de Palestine |publisher=[[Fayard]] |place=Paris |year=2007 |volume=3 |page=104}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Arab–Israeli conflict: The Palestine War 1948 |last=Karsh |first=Efraim |year=2002 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-84176-372-9|page=50}}</ref>{{sfn|Ben-Sasson|1985|p=1058}} contingents from [[Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen|Yemen]], [[Morocco]], [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Sudan]] joined the war.{{sfn|Morris|2008|p=205}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Israel in the Middle East: Documents and Readings on Society, Politics, and Foreign Relations, Pre-1948 to the Present |last=Rabinovich |first=Itamar |author2=Reinharz, Jehuda |year=2007 |publisher=Brandeis |isbn=978-0-87451-962-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780874519624/page/74 74] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780874519624/page/74 }}</ref> The apparent purpose of the invasion was to prevent the establishment of the Jewish state; some Arab leaders talked about "driving the Jews into the sea".<ref name="Morris2008396"/><ref>{{cite book |title=War in Palestine, 1948: Israeli and Arab Strategy and Diplomacy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vs2PAgAAQBAJ&pg=PAPR4 |author=David Tal |year=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-77513-1 |page=469 |quote=some of the Arab armies invaded Palestine in order to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state, Transjordan... |access-date=1 December 2018 |archive-date=19 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219070640/https://books.google.com/books?id=Vs2PAgAAQBAJ&pg=PAPR4#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Morris|2008|p=187}}: "A week before the armies marched, Azzam told Kirkbride: "It does not matter how many [Jews] there are. We will sweep them into the sea." ... Ahmed Shukeiry, one of Haj Amin al-Husseini's aides (and, later, the founding chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization), simply described the aim as "the elimination of the Jewish state." ... al-Quwwatli told his people: "Our army has entered ... we shall win and we shall eradicate Zionism""</ref> According to [[Benny Morris]], Jews were worried that the invading Arab armies held the intent to slaughter them.<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|2008|p=198}}: "the Jews felt that the Arabs aimed to reenact the Holocaust and that they faced certain personal and collective slaughter should they lose"</ref> The Arab league stated the invasion was to restore order and prevent further bloodshed.<ref name=cablegram>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=S/745 |title=PDF copy of Cablegram from the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States to the Secretary-General of the United Nations: S/745: 15 May 1948 |publisher=Un.org |date=9 September 2002 |access-date=13 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107030419/http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=S%2F745 |archive-date=7 January 2014 }}</ref> After a year of fighting, a [[1949 Armistice Agreements|ceasefire was declared]] and temporary borders, known as the [[Green Line (Israel)|Green Line]], were established.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Arab–Israeli conflict: The Palestine War 1948 |last=Karsh |first=Efraim |year=2002 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-84176-372-9}}</ref> Jordan [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|annexed]] what became known as the [[West Bank]], including [[East Jerusalem]], and Egypt [[Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt|occupied]] the [[Gaza Strip]]. The UN estimated that more than 700,000 Palestinians were [[1948 Palestinian exodus|expelled by or fled]]—what would become known in Arabic as the ''[[Nakba]]'' ("catastrophe").<ref>{{cite book |last=Morris|first=Benny|author-link=Benny Morris|title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited|isbn=978-0-521-00967-6 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=602 |year=2004 }}</ref> Some 156,000 remained and became [[Arab citizens of Israel]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lib.cet.ac.il/pages/item.asp?item=13336|title=עיצוב יחסי יהודים - ערבים בעשור הראשון|website=lib.cet.ac.il|access-date=2 September 2021|archive-date=8 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008065301/https://lib.cet.ac.il/pages/item.asp?item=13336|url-status=live}}</ref> [[File:Raising the Ink Flag at Umm Rashrash (Eilat) (3x4).jpg|thumb|150px|right|Raising of the [[Ink Flag]] on 10 March 1949, marking the end of the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War|1948 war]]]] Israel [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 273|was admitted]] as a member of the UN on 11 May 1949.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/1ce874ab1832a53e852570bb006dfaf6/0b3ab8d2a7c0273d8525694b00726d1b |publisher=The United Nations |title=Two Hundred and Seventh Plenary Meeting |date=11 May 1949 |access-date=13 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912101430/http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/1ce874ab1832a53e852570bb006dfaf6/0b3ab8d2a7c0273d8525694b00726d1b |archive-date=12 September 2007 }}</ref> An Israeli-Jordanian attempt at negotiating a peace agreement broke down after the [[British government]], fearful of the Egyptian reaction to such a treaty, expressed their opposition to the [[Government of Jordan|Jordanian government]].<ref>{{cite book|author=William Roger Louis|title=The British Empire in the Middle East, 1945–1951: Arab Nationalism, the United States, and Postwar Imperialism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATQQ0FMS1FQC&pg=PAPA579|year=1984|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=978-0-19-822960-5|page=579|quote=The transcript makes it clear that British policy acted as a brake on Jordan. "King Abdullah was personally anxious to come to agreement with Israel", Kirkbride stated, "and in fact it was our restraining influence which had so far prevented him from doing so". Knox Helm confirmed that the Israelis hoped to have a settlement with Jordan, and that they now genuinely wished to live peacefully within their frontiers, if only for economic reasons.|access-date=1 December 2018|archive-date=19 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219070639/https://books.google.com/books?id=ATQQ0FMS1FQC&pg=PAPA579#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> In the early years of the state, the [[Labor Zionism|Labor Zionist]] movement led by Prime Minister [[David Ben-Gurion]] dominated [[Politics of Israel|Israeli politics]].{{sfn|Lustick|1988|pp=37–39}}<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/iltoc.html |title=Israel (Labor Zionism) |journal=Country Studies |access-date=12 February 2010 |archive-date=10 July 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710212220/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/iltoc.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Immigration to Israel during the late 1940s and early 1950s was aided by the Israeli Immigration Department and the non-government sponsored [[Mossad LeAliyah Bet]] ({{Abbr|lit.|literally|class=small}} "Institute for [[Aliyah Bet|Immigration B]]").<ref>{{cite book | author = Anita Shapira | title = Land and Power | pages = 416, 419 | publisher = Stanford University Press | year = 1992}}</ref> The latter engaged in clandestine operations in countries, particularly in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, where the lives of Jews were believed to be in danger and exit was difficult. Mossad LeAliyah Bet was disbanded in 1953.<ref>Segev, Tom. 1949: The First Israelis. "The First Million". Trans. Arlen N. Weinstein. New York: The Free Press, 1986. Print. pp. 105–107</ref> The immigration was in accordance with the [[One Million Plan]]. Some immigrants held Zionist beliefs or came for the promise of a better life, while others moved to escape persecution or were expelled.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Forgotten Millions: The Modern Jewish Exodus from Arab Lands |last=Shulewitz |first=Malka Hillel |year=2001 |publisher=Continuum |isbn=978-0-8264-4764-7}}</ref><ref>Laskier, Michael "Egyptian Jewry under the Nasser Regime, 1956–70" pp. 573–619 from ''Middle Eastern Studies'', Volume 31, Issue # 3, July 1995 p. 579.</ref> An [[Aliyah#Early statehood (1948–1960)|influx of Holocaust survivors]] and [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries|Jews from Arab and Muslim countries]] to Israel during the first three years increased the number of Jews from 700,000 to 1,400,000. By 1958, the population had risen to two million.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_02&CYear=2016 |title=Population, by Religion |date=2016 |publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics |access-date=4 September 2016 |archive-date=18 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918223343/http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton_e.html?num_tab=st02_02&CYear=2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Between 1948 and 1970, approximately 1,150,000 Jewish refugees relocated to Israel.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bard|first=Mitchell|title=The Founding of the State of Israel|year=2003|publisher=Greenhaven Press|page=15}}</ref> Some new immigrants arrived as refugees and were housed in temporary camps known as ''[[ma'abarot]]''; by 1952, over 200,000 people were living in these tent cities.<ref>{{cite book |title=Immigrants in Turmoil: Mass Immigration to Israel and Its Repercussions in the 1950s and After |last=Hakohen |first=Devorah |year=2003 |publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-2969-6}}; for ma'abarot population, see p. 269.</ref> [[Ashkenazi Jews|Jews of European background]] were often treated more favorably than Jews from [[Mizrahi Jews|Middle Eastern]] and [[Sephardi Jews|North African]] countries—housing units reserved for the latter were often re-designated for the former, so Jews newly arrived from Arab lands generally ended up staying longer in transit camps.<ref>Clive Jones, Emma Murphy, [https://books.google.com/books?id=A144y7qwRJMC&pg=PA37 ''Israel: Challenges to Identity, Democracy, and the State,''] [[Routledge]] 2002 p. 37: "Housing units earmarked for the Oriental Jews were often reallocated to European Jewish immigrants; Consigning Oriental Jews to the privations of ''ma'aborot'' (transit camps) for longer periods."</ref>{{sfn|Segev|2007|pp=155–157}} During this period, food, clothes and furniture had to be rationed in what became known as the [[Austerity in Israel|austerity period]]. The need to solve the crisis led Ben-Gurion to sign a [[Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany|reparations agreement with West Germany]] that triggered mass protests by Jews angered at the idea that Israel could accept monetary compensation for the Holocaust.{{sfn|Shindler|2002|pp=49–50}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page