Israel's founding father David Ben-Gurion knew the high price his people would pay for declaring independence as soon as the last British soldier left Palestinian soil, says an Israeli historian. But he was determined to go ahead with the plan, convinced that it was the Jewish people's only chance to prevent another Holocaust from happening.
israel will celebrate the 72nd anniversary of its creation, starting on Tuesday evening. But first, in accordance with tradition, the Jewish state will remember its fallen, those who have died protecting the country and those who have been murdered by terrorists.
So far, Israel's multiple wars have claimed the lives of 23,816 Israeli soldiers and citizens. But the highest number was registered in 1948, during the nation's War of Independence, when israel lost more than 4,400 soldiers and over two thousand civilians. On the Arab side, 15,000 or so Palestinians were killed during the Arab-Israeli conflict between 1947 and 1949, when an estimated 750,000 or more Palestinians were ejected from Israel or fled from a total local Arab population of nearly two million.
Back then, on 14 May, 1948, Israel declared its independence from the British rule that ended its mandate over Palestine. A day later, the newly- established state was attacked from all fronts as Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese, Iraqi and Jordanian forces moved swiftly into Israel's territory. The goal was simple: to destroy the Jewish state.
Squeezing Opportunities
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