THE First Arab-Israeli War took place between May 1948 and January 1949, opposing, on the one hand, the newly created State of Israel and, on the other, some Arab League countries, including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Arabia Arabia. The Arab declaration of war came in response to the UN decision to create the State of Israel in 1948.
However, disputes between Israelis and Arabs, mainly the Palestinians, had been going on for some time. They were the result of Zionism, a political movement that emerged in the 19th century and led mainly by Theodor Herzl, an Austrian journalist who advocated the creation of a Jewish nation in a unified territory. They won British support, which offered about 15,000 km² of land for Jewish settlements in Uganda, Africa, an offer refused by the Zionists.
Over the decades, groups of Jews settled in Palestine, especially after World War I World, when the Turkish-Ottoman Empire was dissolved and England was responsible for controlling the Palestine. A British Foreign Minister, Lord Arthur Balfour, supported the founding of a Jewish state in Palestine, resulting in increased migration to the region. The same lord had promised independence to the Arabs. The Jews formed agricultural nuclei, mainly on the best land for cultivation. Gradually, hostilities between Palestinian Arabs and Jews increased.
The Nazi persecution of Jews in the 1930s was another stimulus for the displacement of Jewish contingents to the region. However, England banned the entry of new Jewish settlers in the region, encouraging illegal immigration. With the end of World War II and the balance of 6 million Jews killed in the so-called holocaust, there was an expansion of the Zionist campaign.
In 1948, the UN decided to create the State of Israel, dividing Palestine into two parts: a portion of land of 11,500 km² for the approximately 1.3 million Palestinians; and another of 14,500 for the approximately 700,000 Jews who inhabited the region. The Arabs refused to recognize the State of Israel, and there was no formation of the Palestinian State.
Thus, the declaration of war by some of the Arab League countries in May 1948 turned into the first war between Arabs and Israelis. With strong support from the United States, Israel defeated its opponents, occupying the territories of Galilee, the Negev Desert and the West Bank, west of the Jordan River. Jerusalem was divided into two parts: the western part belonging to Israel, and the eastern part, Jordan. The Gaza Strip came under the command of Egypt.
But the conflict was not just due to the distinct religion between Arabs and Jews, economic reasons, especially those linked to oil, were at the root of the Arab-Israeli wars.
The main consequence of the First Arab-Israeli War, besides the territorial increase of Israel, was the expulsion of almost one million Palestinians from the conquered lands, giving rise to the so-called Palestine Question, a struggle for recovery territorial. To recover from their ancient diaspora, the Zionists spawned the Palestinian diaspora.
By Tales Pinto
Master in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/primeira-guerra-Arabe-israelense-1948-1949.htm