For a few days, at the start of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, due to the shortage of arms and ammunition with the Jews, the Arabs enjoyed an upper hand over them. Then, the Jewish diaspora spread across the world girded up their loins to get their motherland out of this problem and consequently, within no […]
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After declaring the establishment of an independent Jew nation in the land of Israel, David Ben-Gurion headed straight for the Israeli military headquarters. The administrators of the new state had to be democratically elected as Israel had chosen the democratic form of governance. But till the time the first election happened, an interim government was […]
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“We… hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel” – declared David Ben-Gurion in a solemn voice. On the 14th of May, 1948, the ceremony commenced with a rendition of ‘Hatikvah’ (later recognized as the national anthem of Israel)following which, Ben-Gurion’s solemn voice was heard […]
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David Ben-Gurion’s anxiety grew as the 15th of May 1948 came closer. Actually speaking,in the on-going Arab-Jew Civil War, the Jews appeared to win across the land of Palestine while the Palestinian Arabs, fearing for their life, continued to flee with their families and whatever belongings they could carry. However, the upper hand, the Jews, […]
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The battle of Deir Yassin fought on the 8th of April, 1948 changed the equations between the Palestinian Arabs and the Jews. The Arabs went from being offensive to defensive; alternately it changed the Jews from being defensive to offensive. As the date of the British exit from Palestine (the 14th of May, 1948) neared, […]
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The fire of the Arab-Jew conflict that raged from the very next day after the verdict of the United Nations on the partition of Palestine refused to die down. In March 1948, considering the overall explosive situation, the United States withdrew its support to the Palestine Partition Plan of the United Nations. The US opposed […]
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The United Nations had approved the concept of the ‘Jewish homeland in Palestine’, but in spite of it, David Ben-Gurion was well-aware that it was to face numerous hurdles. Hence, for the last few months, he tried whatever he could to augment the manpower and the firepower of the Haganah. Importantly, Ben-Gurion put his efforts […]
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The attention of the whole world had by now focused on the decision that the United Nations would give on the plan of Palestine’s partition submitted by the special committee appointed by it (United Nations Special Committee on Palestine’ or the UNSCOP) for handling the Palestine issue. However, the Israeli leaders, especially David Ben-Gurion, were […]
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It was right in the beginning of 1947, in fact after the meeting spoken about earlier, that Britain’s position with regard to the Palestine issue, i.e. its leanings towards the Arabs, became clear. It obviously did not spell hope for the Jews. For the British to safeguard their interests in the Middle East, the cooperation […]
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Enraged, David Ben-Gurion stormed out of the 22nd World Zionist Congress halfway, went directly to his hotel and started to pack his luggage. He had lost his patience. Thoughts were racing in his mind– Why should the Jews have to beg before the world even today to acquire their rightful ‘Promised Land’? Why do we […]
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