Page 63 - Advanced Bible Geography ebook

Modern-Day Israel – A Brief History

Future Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declared Israel an
independent State on May 14, 1948.

The surrounding Arab states immediately fought against the new
Jewish state. Ten months of fierce fighting took place throughout
Israel, the Sinai Peninsula and in southern Lebanon. Though the
outnumbered Jews were at time in grave danger of losing all of
their appointed land, Israeli forces managed to win the battle.
Israel refers to this battle as its “War of Independence.” An
immediate consequence of winning the war was the claiming of
more land than had originally been decreed in the UN “partition
plan.” Jerusalem, however, was lost to Arab control, under
Jordanian leadership.

Approximately 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled
from their homes in that first war. There has been an ongoing
debate and much conflict over whether to restore any of the Arab
refugees to their former property, and if so, how the restoration
would be completed. In succeeding wars, Israel gained even more
land and more military dominance, leading to a never-ending
debate about how to find peace in the Middle East. Facing imminent attack from Egypt, Jordan and Syria,
Israel responded with a surprise, preemptive strike
against the Egyptian Air Force on June 5, 1967. Six
In 1967 – just 19 years after Israel’s rebirth – Egypt led a three- days later, Israel had taken control of the Sinai
nation coalition that seemed to be determined to destroy the Peninsula, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan
Jewish state. The lead-up to the Six-Day War (June 5-10, 1967) Heights and Jerusalem. Though Israel has since
relinquished control of the Sinai and Gaza Strip, it still
began when Egypt blocked Israel from receiving shipping trade maintains control over Jerusalem, the Golan Heights
through the Straits of Tiran. Gamal Nassar, the president of Egypt, and portions of the West Bank.
also mobilized a massive force in the Sinai Peninsula, threatening
to invade Israel from the south. Jordan and Syria mobilized forces to the east, in Jerusalem, and in the
Golan Heights on the northern border.

Israel decided to make a preemptive strike, attacking Egypt’s air bases in a perfectly coordinated
surprise attack. When it was obvious that war had begun, Nassar falsely assured his counterparts in
Jordan and Syria that his forces had repelled the Israeli air strike. In reality, Israel had destroyed Egypt’s
air force in the first few hours of the war. Thinking they would have the support of the Egyptian Air
Force, Jordan and Syria attacked. With complete dominance of the skies, Israel counterattacked swiftly,
taking Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights in the north from Syria.

By the time the fighting stopped just six days after it had begun, Israel had tripled its land area. It later
turned the Sinai Peninsula over to the United Nations and voluntarily asked the Jordanians to police the
Temple Mount. Israel did not return any of the land it took in the Golan Heights, though it has been
pressured to do so for decades.

In 2005, Israel withdrew its forces from the Gaza Strip, though much conflict continues between Israeli
forces and Palestinians living inside the narrow strip of land. Most notably, Israel forces invaded the

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