Before 1948: What Was Israel and How Was It Created

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Britain took control of the region known as ‘Palestine’. This area of the Middle East had long been under Ottoman rule.

Palestine was inhabited by a majority Arab population, along with a minority of Jews and other ethnic groups.

During World War I, Britain assumed control over Palestine. Later, it expressed its support for the establishment of a “national home” for the minority Jewish population there. This pledge eventually became known as the Balfour Declaration.

Tensions between Jews and Arabs escalated after British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour sent a letter on November 2, 1917, to Zionist leader Baron Rothschild. In this letter, Balfour recognized Zionism, a form of Jewish nationalism. This act opened the door to major conflict.

Through this recognition, Britain agreed in principle to establish a “national home” for Jews in Palestine.

While Jews had a historical connection to the land, the Arab population had lived there for centuries and claimed the land as their own. They rejected Britain’s proposal. Britain, however, claimed the rights of the local Arab Palestinians would remain protected.

With British support, Jewish migration to Palestine increased significantly between the 1920s and 1940s. Many Jews fled persecution in Europe.

The events of World War II and Hitler’s anti-Semitic policies in Germany gave momentum to the Zionist movement.

Just hours before the end of British rule in Palestine, Jewish leaders declared an independent state of Israel. U.S. President Truman immediately recognized it. This marked the beginning of great hardship for the Palestinians.

In the following year, the United Nations granted official recognition to Israel.

During the Holocaust, about six million Jews were killed in Europe. After the war, the Holocaust was used as justification for establishing a safe and independent Jewish homeland in Palestine.

By 1947, as a result of Jewish immigration, the Jewish population in Palestine grew to about 630,000 — over 30% of the region’s total population.

As Jewish immigration increased, tensions with local Palestinian Arabs intensified. In 1933, widespread Palestinian protests were violently suppressed by the British.

Meanwhile, plans for an independent Jewish state in Palestine continued.

In 1947, amid growing violence between Jews and Arabs, and the pending end of British rule, the UN proposed partitioning Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. Jerusalem was proposed to be an international city.

The proposed division gave 56% of the land to Jews and 43% to Arabs, despite Jews being a minority. No Arab country accepted the plan.

The proposal passed with a 33–13 vote in the UN General Assembly. Ten countries, including China, abstained, and Thailand was absent.

Britain also abstained and handed over the Palestine issue to the United Nations.