1917-2008

In 1917 the British promised the Jews the entire area of Palestine. Israel and Trans-Jordan were the area. In 1920 the League of Nations unanimously recognized the land of Israel, then known by the Roman name ‘Palestine’, as the home of the Jewish people under international law. The Jews, an indigenous people from the area in and around Israel, who were dispossessed and oppressed for 1,900 years across Europe and the Middle East, were finally granted their right to self-determination in their ancestral home. The British were given the responsibility to facilitate the return of Jews and rebirth of the Jewish state, while doing nothing to “prejudice the civil and religious rights” of Arab residents and others.

In 1920 the Arabs began pogroms against jews in Jerusalem. 

In 1922 the British announced that the Trans-Jordan area, 70% of the total area of Palestine, would be made a new Arab state called Jordan (60%-70% of Jordan's population today is Palestinian).  

In 1937, as the conflict escalated, the British Peel Commission proposed to divide the land into two states for two peoples – one for the Jews and one for the Palestinian Arabs. The proposed Jewish state represented only 20% of the land (that being Haifa and Tel-Aviv), the British would retain control over Jaffa and Jerusalem and the Arabs would get all the Negev desert along with all Judea and Samaria. Jews said yes, Arabs said no. 

In 1939, due to pressure from the Arabs, the British restricted jewish immigration to Palestine just as the Nazis began WW2. Al-Husseini, the Arab leader, sided with Hitler and asked him if he could include in the Final Solution the Jews of the Middle East. 

In 1947 there was a UN partition plan. Seeking a peaceful compromise, the United Nations proposed another division of the land into a Jewish state and an Arab state. Roughly 70% of the land proposed as a state for the Jews consisted of the arid Negev Desert, but Jewish leaders said yes, and offered citizenship to Arabs in their territory. Palestinian and Arab leaders said no and offered no alternative. Two years after the Holocaust ended, they launched a war to wipe out any possibility of a Jewish state.

In 1948 the British Mandate of Palestine ended, and Israel declared its independence. Israel's founding document back in 1948 asked Arabs to stay, Israel's declaration of independence, in the middle of an ongoing war with the Arab Nations, reads; “We appeal in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us for months - to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions”. 

In 1948, the war led to the displacement of refugees. Up to 200,000 Palestinians fled Israel before major fighting, urged by Arab leaders, while others were displaced during the 1948 war sparked by Arab rejection—not a premeditated Israeli expulsion campaign. The rest of the refugees ended up in the West Bank and Gaza, which remained Arab territory until 1967. 

Israel took in over 800,000 Jews expelled from Arab lands between 1948 and 1951.

Arab Nations refuse to take in hundreds of thousands of Arabs (Palestinians) into their country, turning their co-religionists into refugees. Arab states refused to absorb refugees, give citizenship (except Jordan), or equal rights, using them as pawns against Israel. 62% of Palestinian Refugees live outside the West Bank and Gaza according to UNRWA. They live in Lebanon, Tunisia, Kuwait, Jordan, etc. 

 

In 1964, with the Arabs still in FULL control of both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the PLO was founded calling for the destruction of Israel. 

In 1967, the Arab League announced the 3 NO’s. 

  • No peace 

  • No negotiations 

  • No recognition 

In 1973 the Arabs launched another war on Yom Kippur. Israel survived and gained territory.

In 1979, Israel gave the Sinai back to Egypt in return for peace. 

In 1987, the 1rst Intifada started.

In 1993 Israel agreed to the Oslo Accords.  It was supposed to be a step-by-step process to establish a Palestinian State. 

In 1998 Israel conceded more territory to the Palestinian Authority under PM Netanyahu. 

In 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton brought Israeli and Palestinian leaders together and proposed the creation of a Palestinian state in 91% of the West Bank and all of Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said yes. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said no. 

In 2000 the 2nd Intifada started. Arafat launched the 2nd Intifada – a brutal campaign of suicide bombings and other attacks which murdered over 1,000 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians. Israel responded with checkpoints, a security barrier, and other safety measures. These actions made life more difficult for Palestinians but dramatically reduced the number of Israeli deaths from terrorism.

In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza giving it to the Palestinians. Many Israelis had to give up their homes and leave. We even had to dig up some corpses. Hamas was elected and immediately started to use it for terrorism activity.


In September 2008, Ehud Olmert offered a peace agreement giving the Palestinians virtually all of the West Bank and Gaza for a Palestinian state. He agreed to divide Jerusalem so that the eastern part of the city could become the Palestinian capital. Ehud even agreed to give up Jewish sovereignty of the Temple Mount (the holiest place for Jews in the entire world). Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas promised to get back to PM Olmert but never did.


Israel has accepted every deal offered, Palestinians have rejected every single one. 


This was never about territory, it has always been about killing Jews.

How was Israel able to have an army during the 1948 War of Independence?

  • Formation of IDF: On May 26, 1948, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was established as Israel's unified military force during the War of Independence. It drew its forces from existing Jewish paramilitary groups, starting as an ill-equipped army but ending the war as a formidable force.

  • Pre-IDF Defense Forces: Haganah: The primary Jewish defense force, which evolved into a full-scale defense outfit after the 1936-1939 Arab revolt. By 1941, it included the Field Corps, Guard Corps, and the elite Palmach. The Palmach integrated military training with agricultural work and Zionist education. Other Groups: Alongside the Haganah, smaller groups like Etzel and Lehi were active, contributing to the fight for independence.

  • Declaration of Independence: On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion declared Israel's independence. Immediately after, on May 15, 1948, multiple Arab armies invaded, leading to the War of Independence.The IDF was initially ill-equipped, facing invaders from multiple Arab nations and volunteers from other countries. The Jewish forces were motivated by the necessity of survival. A significant boost came from Czechoslovakia, providing Spitfire and Messerschmitt planes, which were crucial in forming the Israel Air Force.

  • Outcome: By July 1949, the IDF had successfully repelled the Arab invaders, leading to armistice agreements with major opponents. The war resulted in heavy losses, with around 4,000 soldiers and more than 2,000 civilians killed, representing over 10% of Israel's initial population.