Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Israel's fi rst prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, reads Israel's Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv's City
Hall, May 14, 1948. Behind him is a portrait of Theodor Herzl, founder of the modern Zionist movement.
(Getty Images / Image Bank.)
After the Egyptians shelled an IDF supply convoy, Israel launched an offensive on Octo-
ber 14 that captured Beer Sheba in eight days and drove the Egyptian forces back across the
border, except in the Gaza Strip area.
Israeli losses had been heavy. The 6,000 killed amounted to 1 percent of its entire popula-
tion. Yet Israel had fulfi lled its goal of establishing itself as an independent state; furthermore,
it now governed 21 percent more territory than had been offered in the UN Partition Plan. The
United Nations admitted Israel as a member on March 11, 1949.
Neither the Palestinian Arabs nor the Arab countries created a new state in the former Brit-
ish mandate. In 1950, Jordan's King Abdallah annexed the West Bank, although virtually no
countries recognized Jordan's right to the territory. Egypt ruled in the Gaza Strip. Within Is-
rael, military control was maintained over areas of the Galilee, which was populated by 150,000
Arabs; there, Arab citizens ran for offi ce and were elected to the Knesset (Israel's parliament),
