Since the United Nations partition of PALESTINE in 1947 and theestablishment of the modern state of ISRAEL in 1948, there havebeen four major Arab-Israeli wars (1947-49, 1956, 1967, and1973) and numerous intermittent battles. Although Egypt andIsrael signed a peace treaty in 1979, hostility between Israeland the rest of its Arab neighbors, complicated by the demandsof Palestinian Arabs, continued into the 1980s.THE FIRST PALESTINE WAR (1947-49)The first war began as a civil conflict between PalestinianJews and Arabs following the United Nations recommendation ofNov. 29, 1947, to partition Palestine, then still underBritish mandate, into an Arab state and a Jewish state.Fighting quickly spread as Arab guerrillas attacked Jewishsettlements and communication links to prevent implementationof the UN plan.Jewish forces prevented seizure of most settlements, but Arabguerrillas, supported by the Transjordanian Arab Legion underthe command of British officers, besieged Jerusalem. By April,Haganah, the principal Jewish military group, seized theoffensive, scoring victories against the Arab Liberation Armyin northern Palestine, Jaffa, and Jerusalem. British militaryforces withdrew to Haifa; although officially neutral, somecommanders assisted one side or the other.After the British had departed and the state of Israel had beenestablished on May 15, 1948, under the premiership of DavidBEN-GURION, the Palestine Arab forces and foreign volunteerswere joined by regular armies of Transjordan (now the kingdomof JORDAN), IRAQ, LEBANON, and SYRIA, with token support fromSAUDI ARABIA. Efforts by the UN to halt the fighting wereunsuccessful until June 11, when a 4-week truce was declared.When the Arab states refused to renew the truce, ten more daysof fighting erupted. In that time Israel greatly extended thearea under its control and broke the siege of Jerusalem.Fighting on a smaller scale continued during the second UNtruce beginning in mid-July...
