How important was the holocaust in the establishment of Israel.

How important was the holocaust in the establishment of Israel

The holocaust seems to be a major reason in the establishment of the state of Israel. The state of Israel was created in May 1948; the Jews finally had a homeland of their own. There were a variety of long-term causes such as the Balfour Declaration, Zionist movement and short-term causes such as the holocaust and the influence of the USA. The area, which is now called Israel, was part of Palestine; it was under British mandate at the start of World War One.

The holocaust is a term used to define the systematic killing of over 6 million Jews by the Nazi regime from the years 1933 to 1945. It took place in Nazi occupied territories, through death camps. After the end of the Second World War, the Allies, and the rest of the world were enlightened to the plight of the Jews during the war period, and their true suffering was revealed to the world. This created an immense international wave of sympathy; people began to question why the Jews could not have their own homeland. After all they had their own language, their own religion and culture. It became hard for Allied leaders to refuse the demands for the Jews, they could not come out and outwardly say “no” and soon they would have to make a clear answer to the demands. The holocaust is seen as such an important cause for the creation of the independent state of Israel because of its proximity to the creation of Israel. The holocaust ended and was discovered in 1945. Israel was created in 1948. It can be argued in the favour of the view the holocaust is the main cause for the creation of Israel because of this fact. Another fact that favours this argument is that Britain in 1939 through the McDonald White Paper was refusing Jews from entering Palestine. The McDonald White Paper was a document that set limitations to the number of Jews allowed to immigrate into Palestine.

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Another cause for the creation of Israel was a promise made by Britain to the Jews, called the Balfour Declaration. However this was not the only promise that Britain made concerning Palestine during this period of time in history. The Balfour declaration stated that if the Jews were to help support Britain during the First World War, Britain would create a homeland in Palestine for the Jews once the war ended. However Britain at the same time also made promises to the Arabs living in the Palestine region that they would give up control over Palestine to the Arabs, and let them govern their own nation-state on the condition that the Arabs revolted and attacked the Turkish Ottoman empire which had aligned itself with Nazi Germany. On top of these agreements Britain also committed itself to a third agreement, these was the Picot/Sykes agreement which stated that Britain and France would divide up Palestine between themselves and disregard the calls to create nation-states for the Jews or the Arabs. The Balfour agreement put pressure on Britain to carry out their promises. However it would be extremely different for Britain to give the Jews what they had been promised because of the promises they had made to others.

Another cause important to the creation of Israel was the Zionist Movement. The Zionist movement played huge roles in pushing the cause for a new homeland. Amongst its members was a man named Chaum Wiezmann, a Jewish chemist. Along with Lord Rothschild he played an important part in securing the Balfour agreement. As well as campaigning, the Zionist movement also later developed violent radical gangs and terrorists. The Zionist movement began in the 1890’s when a Jewish journalist named Theodore Herzl witnessed the appalling discrimination of Jews in courts and other aspects of society. Theodore began to contemplate the thought that the Jews should have a homeland of their own. He established the Zionist movement through the publication of leaflets and conferences.

In latter stages of the fight for a homeland, the Zionist movement split up into three distinctive groups, all three of them focused on terrorist activities. The first of these three groups, the Haganah; was the most organized group and later formed the bulk of the army for the new nation-state of Israel. It concentrated itself mainly on attacking the Arabs in the region who were angry at the Jewish invasion of their lands. The other affiliated group with the Haganah was the Irgun, which most famously blew up the British headquarters in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. The last group was known as the Stern gang, it attacked British soldiers and military personnel. Their most famous attack was the murder and hanging from a tree of two British soldiers. These terrorist attacks had the effect of causing Britain to worry for the safety of citizens and army, Britain would rather give up the Palestinian lands than live in fear of more terrorist attacks.

Along with the Holocaust, the influence of the USA was one of the most important causes in the creation of the nation-state of Israel. The USA was home to predominant Jewish citizens who were wealthy and held great influence. By pledging financial support to political parties they were able to convince the politicians and leaders of the USA to create a homeland for the Jews. A certain individual held many conferences, these were attended by many and gained notoriety, headlining and raising the awareness of the cause the Jews were fighting for to the rest of the world. The USA also held great power in the UN, a direct descendent of the League of Nations. This is the reason why the UN was so quick in creating the state of Israel once Britain gave up rights to the land. Britain holding the mandate of Palestine was the only country, which could create this homeland, Britain after running huge debts during the war relied on the money supplied to it by the USA through the Marshall plan and as a result needed to keep the USA happy.

When Britain had it’s back against the wall, with pressure from all sides – from its Allies, from the Jews rebelling against its authority and from the Arabs; it decided it was too much hassle and gave up its mandate to the United Nations. The United Nations with the pressure of the USA instantly created the Nation State of Israel and it was officially recognized by the USA immediately. There was resistance from the Arabs but this was quenched. It seems that both the influence of the USA and the holocaust had remarkable bearing on the tilt towards creating a homeland for the Jews. At the end of the First World War, the notion of the Jews owning their own homeland was laughable yet several years later, the Jews not only had this homeland but also had it situated in the lands of their forefathers.