so the Palestinians have no case? > > > <<Israel was established in 1948. It covers an area of about 21,596 sq > km (about 8338 sq mi). This figure includes East Jerusalem and the > Golan Heights region of southwestern Syria, both captured by Israel in > the Six-Day War of 1967 and subsequently annexed. Most countries, > however, do not recognize the annexations. Israel also seized the Gaza > Strip and the West Bank during the war. However, following historic > peace agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation > Organization (PLO) in 1993 and 1995, all Palestinian towns in the West > Bank and the Gaza Strip were transferred to Palestinian > administration. Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital and > largest city, although the United Nations (UN) does not recognize the > city's status as capital because East Jerusalem lies in disputed > territory. > > Although the state of Israel (Medinat Israel) declared its > independence on May 14, 1948, its modern history begins with the > Zionist movement founded by Theodor Herzl at Basel, Switzerland, in > 1897. > > The number of Jews in Palestine was small in the early 20th century; > it increased from 12,000 in 1845 to nearly 85,000 by 1914. Most people > in Palestine were Arabic-speaking Muslims and Christians. Support for > the Zionist movement came largely from Jews in Europe and North > America. > > By World War I (1914-1918) the Zionist movement had won backing from > Great Britain, which wanted Jewish support for its struggle against > Germany. The British government therefore issued the Balfour > Declaration on November 2, 1917, in the form of a letter to a British > Zionist leader from the foreign secretary Arthur J. Balfour: "His > Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine > of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best > endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being > clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the > civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities in > Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any > other country." > > After World War I the terms of the Balfour Declaration were included > in the mandate for Palestine approved by the League of Nations in > 1922. The mandate entrusted Great Britain with administering Palestine > and with assisting the Jewish people in "reconstituting their national > home in that country." > > Large-scale Jewish settlement and development of extensive Zionist > agricultural and industrial enterprises in Palestine began during the > British mandatory period, which lasted until 1948. The Jewish > community, or Yishuv, increased tenfold during this era, especially > during the 1930s, when large numbers of Jews fled Europe to escape > persecution by the Nazis. Tel Aviv became the country's largest > all-Jewish city, dozens of other towns and villages were founded, and > hundreds of Jewish agricultural collectives (kibbutzim) and > cooperatives were established. > > British officials, working under the high commissioner for Palestine > appointed by the government in London, were responsible for defense > and security, immigration, postal service, transportation, and port > facilities. They were the highest authorities, ultimately responsible > for governing the country. > > The British attempted to maintain a delicate balance between the > interests and demands of the Yishuv and those of the country's > predominantly Arab population. As Jewish immigration to Palestine > increased and Jewish settlement spread, Arab opposition to British > rule and to Zionism grew. During the mandate several nationalist > uprisings culminated in a general Arab revolt (1936-39) that was > finally suppressed by British troops on the eve of World War II. > > More than 5 million Jews were killed by German Nazis during World War > II (see Holocaust). When Zionist leaders realized the extent of the > genocide being committed, their demands for self-government greatly > intensified, as did their efforts to facilitate immigration and > settlement in Palestine. In Palestine the Yishuv was galvanized in > opposition to the British mandatory authorities to support illegal > immigration of refugees from war-torn Europe. By the end of the war > most of the Yishuv was in revolt against Great Britain. > > Exhausted by seven years of war and eager to withdraw from overseas > colonial commitments, Great Britain decided in 1947 to leave Palestine > and called on the United Nations (UN) to make recommendations. In > response, the UN convened its first special session, and on November > 29, 1947, it adopted a plan calling for the partition of Palestine > into Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem as an international zone > under UN jurisdiction; the Jewish and Arab states would be joined in > an economic union. The partition resolution was endorsed by a vote of > 33 to 13, supported by the United States and the Soviet Union. The > British abstained. > > In Palestine, Arab protests against partition erupted in violence, > with attacks on Jewish settlements that soon led to a full-scale civil > war. The British were intent on leaving the country no later than > August 1, 1948, the date in the partition plan for termination of the > mandate, and generally refused to intervene. > > When it became clear that the British intended to leave by May 15, > leaders of the Yishuv decided to implement the part of the partition > plan calling for establishment of a Jewish state. In Tel Aviv on May > 14 the Provisional State Council, formerly the National Council, > "representing the Jewish people in Palestine and the World Zionist > Movement," proclaimed the "establishment of the Jewish State in > Palestine, to be called Medinat Israel (the State of Israel) b& open > to the immigration of Jews from all the countries of their > dispersion." > > On May 15 the armies of Egypt, Transjordan (now Jordan), Syria, > Lebanon, and Iraq joined Palestinian and other Arab guerrillas who had > been fighting Jewish forces since November 1947. The civil war now > became an international conflict, the first Arab-Israeli War, called > the war of independence by Israel. The Arabs failed to prevent the > establishment of a Jewish state, and the war ended with four > UN-arranged armistice agreements between Israel and Egypt, Lebanon, > Jordan, and Syria. The frontiers defined in the armistice agreements > remained until they were altered by Israel's conquests during the > Six-Day War in 1967.
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