How israel defeated arabs

On May 14, , General Alan Cunningham, the last British high commissioner, left what was known then as the mandate of Palestine. Within a day, forces from the armies of several Arab countries, including Egypt and Transjordan, attacked the new state of Israel.

Underestimating the power of the fledgling state, Arab rulers thought they were heading towards an easy victory that would quiet post-World War II domestic unrest and — perhaps — gain them more territory. The scenario of defeating defenceless Israel turned out to be a far-fetched one. The reasons behind the crushing defeat are still the subjects of many heated debates. Radwan al-Sayyid, a Lebanese political thinker, told Al Jazeera that there was not enough awareness among Arabs that an ill-timed and poorly-executed military campaign could end up totally losing Palestine.

Disunited, Arabs fall. While Arab leaders claimed to be fighting for Palestine, they were also engaged in a war of interests in which the warring parties had different agendas and often conflicting goals.

Arthur Goldschmidt Jr, a professor emeritus of Middle East history at Pennsylvania State University, says these rivalries altered the course of the war. Moubayed, however, argues that the war should not be seen as a single collective defeat. But soon enough, instead of fighting against the Jewish state, Arab leaders fought against each other for land and glory. He considers the first armistice, which gave the Israelis time to re-organise themselves, and the secret deal between King Abdullah and Golda Meir, the iconic Israeli prime minister, as major setbacks that turned the course of events in favour of Israel.

But the Arabs also exhibited negligent underestimation of the abilities of the Jewish militias in in Palestine. But he profoundly misplayed his hand. The Israeli journalists Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez make a remarkable if impossible to prove case that the Six-Day War came about because of a Soviet-Arab scheme to goad Israel into a preemptive attack, using this as a pretext to take out its putative nuclear program.

Soviet soldiers who were there, poised to carry out such orders, but called back when Israel attacked so overwhelmingly. Such odds: The Israelis were outnumbered 40 to 1 and, in land mass terms, it was as if New Jersey fought off the whole United States.

For example, the Deir Yassin massacre witnessed the death of men, women and children. Moreover, the same month, the Arabs retaliated, killing 77 mainly Jewish doctors and nurses Ovendale , p.

Another major consequence of the Arab-Israeli war of was the problem of Palestinian refugees. By the end of the war, the UN estimated that the total refugee population by June was , from Palestinian towns and villages.

However there are disputes over how many Palestinians actually left, as sources vary Schulze , p. Regardless of the exact number, the truth remains that there was a significant number of Palestinians who were left homeless as a result of the war.

It is the solution to this problem which caused further dispute between Arabs and Jews. The Jewish argument was that Palestinians should be integrated into the Arab states, whereas the Arabs argued that refugees should be able to return to their rightful homes Schulze , p. The Arab defeat also had significant consequences.

Firstly it demonstrated the lack of united aims and cooperation between the so-called Arab League. Therefore the Arab states were divided, with Palestine playing a fairly passive role Bell , p.

This had an impact on future wars. Another consequence of the Arab-Israeli war was the territory changes. For Israel this was arguably positive, having increased its territory by 21 per cent in comparison to the partition resolution boundaries. Contrarily, this could also be viewed as negative as it increased hostility from the Arabs who believed Israel should have no land whatsoever. This all proves that the Arabs also had the intention of expanding their power and territory.

To summarise, having analysed Zionism, Arab nationalism and British foreign policy as three key causes of the Arab-Israeli war, as well as three major consequences of the war, this essay can conclude that the Arab-Israeli war was a highly complex conflict with its origins going as far back as biblical times.

The impacts of the First and Second World War contributed to the foreign policy of the British in handing over the Palestine Mandate to the UN, which consequently resulted in the declaration of independence for Israel. It was this declaration which created uproar amongst Jews and Arabs alike, and instigated the war.