the
War of
Independence (milchemet ha'' atzmaot). This happened as a result of the U.N''s decision to divide the
country between two nations- the Jews and the Arabs. The Arab nation did not agree with the plan and started riots all over the country. On May 14, 1948 these riots became the War of Independence. <
br> Only one day before the British mandate terminated David Ben- Gurion read the Declaration of Independence and proclaimed the establishment of the state of Israel.
Thus started the second part of the War of Independence; the armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq joined the fighting. Syria, Lebanon and Iraq
invaded from the north. If they thought that the nation would be led like sheep to the slaughter they were wrong. The memory of the Holocaust was fresh and the army of the new country bravely pushed away all the invaders.
The Syrian
forces were halted in the kibbutz Dgania. The Iraqis unsuccessfully tried to cross the Jordan River and were stopped on the border along with the Lebanese forces.
The Jordanian military legion invaded from the east. They conquered western Jerusalem and cut off eastern part of the city. Jerusalem was besieged. The defense force managed to hold back the Egyptians in the Ashdod area and the Etzel force held them back around Ramat Rachel.
In the start of June, the U.N declared
cease fire for 30 days. During this period Israel formed their army, the IDF, which still protects the country in the present.
After the cease fire the IDF had the upper hand. They took initiative and and after long months of fighting a cease fire was declared. Borderlines were established, including a temporary green line. In the fateful, bloody war for the independence of Israel about 8,000 lives were taken out of a population of only about 650,000. Out of the dead 6,000 were soldiers and 2,000 were citizens.
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