Why was the State of Israel successfully established in 1948?

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Why was the State of Israel successfully established in 1948?The State of Israel was formally established in May 1948. The creation of a Jewish homeland fulfilled an ancient desire within the Jewish community for their own independent state, however its creation was largely due to a culmination of a series of factors during the first half of the 20th century that lead to the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948, identifying these factors will form the first part of this essay. The second part of this essay will focus on Israel's continued successful establishment as an autonomous state through 1948 following the Declaration of Independence as Israel faced attack from its Arab neighbours. It is necessary to examine Israel’s actions during this time as its survival during this period is the best example of Israel having been successfully established.The Zionist movement was integral to the establishment of Israel, scholar Michael Wolffsohn arguing that its creation was primarily due to the political, economic, social and military achievements of its founders. (1) They were responsible for bringing the issue of a Jewish homeland to the forefront of global politics in the 20th century. The Zionists believed that the Jews were so different from other races that they could not live with other people and therefore needed their own independent Jewishstate to live in, preferably Palestine. (2) The World Zionist Organisation encouraged Jews to emigrate to Palestine to increase the density of the Jewish population in Palestine and also to strengthen Jewish national sentiment and consciousness (3). The increase in the Jewish population would give theJews a greater say over the territory and would enable them to deal with Palestinian opposition moreeffectively.The Zionist movement desperately sought international recognition of Jewish rights to Palestine.Throughout the early part of the 20th century, Zionist leaders such as Chaim Weizmann used politicallobbying to try and convince the British government that it was in their best interest to support the Zionist cause. In return for Jewish support during the war, the British made the Balfour Declaration which formally acknowledged the ancient link between the Jewish people and the land of Palestine (4).Following World War One, The League of Nations Council and the American Congress gave similar public signs of support; backing the eventual "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" (5) These public declarations dramatically changed the status of the Zionist cause, giving their ambitions for Palestine a strong, legal, grounding. These post-war developments were a major step toward a secure, internationally recognised homeland for the Jewish people.The 1920s saw the creation of a Jewish agency, the purpose of which was to represent the Jews in theirdealings with the British. The Jewish agency which was dominated by leading Zionists made the dream of an Israeli state a reality as it effectively created a Jewish "state" within a state. As the Jewish Agency became more powerful it gave the Jews of Palestine their own political institutions, tax system, economic policy, labour unions, school system and health system. These organisations were at the centre of an increasingly autonomous Jewish state within the British Mandate and by creating the Jewish agency in the form of an almost provisional government, it lay down the structuralfoundation for a Jewish state which was essential to Israel's survival after it had achieved independence. (6) Throughout the 1930s Britain adopted a far harsher policy to the Jews in Palestine, limiting immigration and strengthening links with the Arab nations. The Zionist movement was fully aware that British retreat from Palestine was essential to the creation of an independent Israeli state, as was a decreased Arab presence. The Zionist movement turned to violence to intimidate those that stood in its way. The most famous of these displays of violence was the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in July 1946. The
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brutal attack killed about ninety British, Arabs and Jews and more than two hundred others were injured. (7) Economically, politically and militarily weakened by the Second World War, Britain was scared byattacks such as at the King David Hotel and was concerned that any British policy viewed by the Arabs to be favourable to the Jews was damaging to Britain's relations with Arab states most notably Egypt, thereby placing Britain's essential future use of the Suez canal in jeopardy. Britain handed over theproblem of Palestine to the United Nations in 1947. The UN created a special committee of elevenmember states ...

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