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Summaries Of The Four Arab-Israeli Conflicts In The 20Th Century

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 volunteers
were joined by regular armies of Transjordan (now the kingdom
of JORDAN), IRAQ, LEBANON, and SYRIA, with token support from
SAUDI ARABIA.   Efforts by the UN to halt the fighting were
unsuccessful until June 11, when a 4-week truce was declared.
When the Arab states refused to renew the truce, ten more days
of fighting erupted.   In that time Israel greatly extended the
area under its control and broke the siege of Jerusalem.
Fighting on a smaller scale continued...