Osprey Essential Histories 28 : The Arab-Israeli Conflict : The Palestine War 1948

The Palestine War has been by far the most important military encounter in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel's survival and victory, coupled with the Palestinian dispersion and the creation of a lingering refugee problem, would redefine Middle Eastern political and military affairs for decades to come. For the Arab states, their unthinkable defeat at the hands of the Jewish state created a profound sense of humiliation which would long haunt their domestic and foreign policies. For Israel, victory on the battlefield provided wider security margins and a vital opportunity to develop its newly-gained statehood. But this came at a high human cost and marked the beginning of decades of vulnerability. Indeed, the much-celebrated status of the Israeli Defence Forces is primarily a testament to the failure of the 1948 war to bring a safe environment in which Israel could coexist with her regional neighbours. This book examines the origins of the war and its progression through two distinct stages: the guerilla warfare between the Arab and Jewish communities of Mandatory Palestine, and the conventional inter-state war between the State of Israel and the invading Arab armies. By way of doing so it assesses the participants, their war aims, strategies and combat performance. Finally, it examines the reasons for Israel's success in the face of seemingly impossible odds and for the failure of the Arab nations to turn their military and numerical superiority into victory on the ground. Text by Efraim Karsh.

Contents

• Introduction
• Chronology
• Background to War : The Burden of History
• Warring Sides : Strengths and Weaknesses of Arabs and Jews
• Outbreak : 'The Arabs of Palestine will Never Submit to Partition'
• The Fighting : From Inter:Communal Strife to Inter:State War
• Portrait of a Soldier : Trapped on the Battlefield
• The World around War : The Great Game
• Portrait of a Civilian : Leaving Jerusalem
• How the War Ended : From Ceasefire to Armistice
• Conclusion and Consequences : Perpetuating the Arab:Israeli Conflict