Arab-Israeli Conflict - Essay Example

The first conflict between the two nations, known as the first Arab-Israeli War, started on May 15, 1948, when five Arab armies invaded the one-day- old Jewish state. "The war was fought along the entire, long border of the country: against Lebanon and Syria in the north; Iraq and Transjordan - renamed Jordan during the war - in the east; Egypt, assisted by contingents from the Sudan - in the south; and Palestinians and volunteers from Arab countries in the interior of the country. It was the bloodiest of Israel's wars.

It cost 6,373 killed in action (from pre-state days until 20 July 1949) almost 1% of the yishuv (the Jewish community)" (Lorch 2003). Therefore, the War of Independence in 1948 was the most destructive wars that the two nations ever fought and it did not mark the end of the Arab-Israeli conflict, although the war came to an end with the 1949 Armistice Agreements. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which was fought between the newly declared State of Israel and its Arab neighbours, has been known in different names, and the Israelis call it as the War of Independence or War of Liberation while the Arabs name it as the Catastrophe.

The United Nations made an important decision to partition Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state on Nov. 29, 1947, and the war broke out following the withdrawal of the British force from the region. "Mounting violence leads to the first Arab-Israeli war in early 1948, when the British withdraw from the region. Jewish forces hold their ground and declare Israeli statehood on May 14, 1948. Neighbouring Arab nations, including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt and then-Transjordan, lend support to the Palestinians.

The Egyptians are the last to seek an end to hostilities; an armistice is reached in January 1949." (The Arab-Israeli conflict, 1947-present). Therefore, various nations such as Israel, Palestine, and other neighbouring Arab nations, including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt etc took part in the war of 1947. In fact, the fighting had started long before long before the actual date of the war between local Jews and local Arabs who were supported by volunteers from neighbouring states such as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt.

Significantly, it was the bloodiest of the seven wars that the Israelis had fought in the region and around 6,000 Jews were killed in the war, which is almost 1 per cent of the country's Jewish population at the time. "It was also the last time Israel found itself facing an opposing force that did not overwhelmingly outnumber its own. Between 35,000 to 45,000 Israel soldiers were pitted against 42,000 to 54,0000 troops from the Arab countries." (Background: The 1947 - 1949 Arab-Israeli War). Therefore, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War was the most destructive war among the various wars belonging to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The war which was fought in four phases came to an end on February 24, 1949, when the Israel troop and Egypt signed an armistice agreement that was followed by similar agreements with Lebanon on March 23, 1949, with Jordan on April 3, 1949 and with Syria on July 20, 1949. Thus, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War ended without great lose to the Israeli side which was established as a sovereign state in 1948. Another