The Arab attack on Israel
Preparing the State of Israel
Facing immediate and open threat of the war from all Arab states, Israel had to build an army strong enough to face the upcoming war. Although British restrictions, searches, imprisonment's and detentions made it practically impossible to build a military with air force, tanks, navy, artillery and other heavy machinery, the leader of the Israeli army and later the first Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion decided to build up a force in preparation for an assault by the regular armies of the Arab countries, which Israel would have to face alone, without outside help from the UN or any other country.
Ben-Gurion found the Israeli army terribly unprepared for a war--all machinery was extremely outdated, while the soldiers were very ill prepared for fighting-- and he immediately started to rectify it. Since import and deployment of heavy weapons were not allowed under the British mandate, it was decided that manpower should be prepared in the country and equipment purchased and kept abroad--to be "married" in time to throw back the enviable Arab assault.
The Arab Invasion
This tactic paid off on May 15, 1948. Less than 24 hours after the State of Israel was proclaimed, the regular armies of Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, with financial and military help of the Soviet Union and Sudan invaded the country, forcing Israel to defend the sovereignty it had regained in its ancestral homeland. The Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin Al Husseini stated, "I declare a holy war, my Moslem brothers! Murder the Jews! Murder them all!". His call was supported by all leaders of the invading countries who promised their people to throw the Jews into the Mediterranean sea. In what became known as Israel's War of Independence, the newly formed, poorly equipped Israeli Defense Force (IDF) lost many important battles in the first few weeks, but eventually was able repulse the invaders.
The war lasted 15 months. It was fought along the entire border of Israel: against Lebanon and Syria in the north; Iraq and Jordan in the east; Egypt and Palestine, assisted by Sudan - in the south. It was the bloodiest of all Israeli-Arab wars and killed one of every 100 Jews living in Israel.
There were four phases in the war. In the First Phase was actually before Israel was established--November 29, 1947 to April 1, 1948. At first it was the Palestinian Arabs who took the offensive, with the help of volunteers from neighboring countries; the irregular and untrained forces of the IDF (which was called the Hagadah at the time) had very little success. Israel suffered severe casualties and disruption of passage along most of the major highways. The invading forces were able to occupy most of Israel, including the Etzion Bloc in Judea, the area of Mishmar Hayarden in the north and Yad Mordehai in the south.
In the Second Phase (from April 1 to May 15) the IDF took the initiative, and in six weeks was able to turn around the war--re-capturing sections of Tiberias, Haifa, Safed and Acre, temporarily opening the road to Jerusalem and gaining control of much of the territory allotted to the Jewish State under the UN Resolution.
The Third Phase (from May 15 to July 19), considered the critical one, opened with the simultaneous, coordinated assault on the embrionical state by five regular Arab armies from neighboring countries, with an overwhelming superiority in the number of soldiers and heavy equipment--armor, artillery, navy and airforce.
The Fourth Phase (from July 19, 1948 to July 20, 1949) was characterized by Israeli initiatives: Operation Yoav, in October, cleared the road to the Negev, culminating in the re-capture of Be'er Sheva; Operation Hiram, at the end of October, resulted in the capture of the Upper Galilee; Operation Horev in December 1948 and Operation Uvda in March 1949, completed the capture of the Negev, which had been allotted to the Jewish State by the United Nations.
Armistice Agreement
Shortly after, the Arab countries signed Armistice Agreements: first came Egypt (on February 24, 1949); followed by Lebanon (on March 23); Jordan (on April 3); and Syria (on 20 July). Only Iraq did not sign an armistice agreement with Israel. It preferred to withdraw its troops and hand over its sector to the Arab Legion of Jordan.
The negotiations between Israel and the invading countries, which were conducted with the UN as a mediator, resulted in cease-fire agreements which reflected the situation at the end of the fighting. According to the coastal plan, Galilee and the entire Negev were within Israel's sovereignty, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) came under Jordanian rule, the Gaza Strip came under Egyptian administration, and the city of Jerusalem was divided, with Jordan controlling the eastern part, including the Old City, and Israel the western sector.
In the end Israel not only ejected the invading Arab forces--it also captured and held 5,000 km2 in addition to the area allocated to it by the United Nations.
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