#7: Israel’s War of Independence, 1947-1949

Building the Impossible Dream: The History of Zionism

Shortly after the General Assembly voted on November 29, 1947, to establish Jewish and Arab states in Palestine, Chaim Weizmann declared that states are not given to peoples on a silver platter—and that the Jews would have to fight to establish theirs. Indeed, the Yishuv, backed by the Zionist movement, fought a War of Independence beginning the day after the UN decision, when the Arabs of Palestine responded with anger and violence. The war did not end until early 1949.

In this episode, Dr. Polisar breaks down the two phases of the conflict—the “civil war” pitting the Arabs of Palestine against the Yishuv from November 1947 to May 1948; and the war against the five Arab countries that invaded Palestine in May 1948 with the aim of preventing the birth of the Jewish state. In addition to examining the causes and consequences of Israel’s victory, Dr. Polisar also covers the Isrel's Declaration of Independence, read aloud by David Ben-Gurion on May 14, 1948 just hours before the British Mandate formally ended.

Supplemental Materials:

• A series of essays by Martin Kramer on Israel's Declaration of Independence.
• "Podcast: Neil Rogachevsky and Dov Zigler on the Political Philosophy of Israel's Declaration of Independence."
• The full text of Israel's Declaration of Independence in English.