Two national movements claimed the same land. When Britain left Palestine in 1948, the UN partition plan led to war, a new Israeli state and a Palestinian refugee crisis.
Britain ruled Palestine under a League of Nations mandate from 1920. Jewish immigration grew, driven by Zionism, the movement for a Jewish national home, and by persecution in Europe. Palestinian Arabs opposed it and wanted an independent Arab state.
After the Holocaust, pressure for a Jewish state grew. Britain, worn down by violence from both sides, handed the problem to the UN in 1947.
In November 1947 the UN General Assembly voted to divide Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state, with Jerusalem under international control. Jewish leaders accepted the plan. Arab leaders rejected it.
Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, as the British left. Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon attacked. Israel won and ended up with more land than the plan had given it.
About 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes. The UN mediator Ralph Bunche negotiated armistice agreements in 1949, but no Arab state recognised Israel.
- Resolution 181
- November 1947: partition plan.
- Israel
- Independence declared 14 May 1948.
- Refugees
- About 700,000 Palestinians.
- Armistice
- 1949, negotiated by Ralph Bunche.
Worked example: Explaining the first war
Which causes were at work in 1948?
- Decolonisation: Britain's exit left no agreed successor.
- Nationalism: Zionism against Arab and Palestinian nationalism.
- Territory: both peoples claimed the same land.
- Religion: Jerusalem's holy sites raised the stakes.
Watch out for this
The Arab-Israeli conflict was an ancient religious war.
It was mainly a modern conflict between two national movements over territory, made worse by the way British rule ended. Religion raised the stakes, especially over Jerusalem.
Check your understanding
What did the UN partition plan of November 1947 propose?
- A Jewish state, an Arab state and international control of Jerusalem
- A single Arab state with Jewish self-rule
- Continued British rule