Editing Palestine (section)

=====1947 Partition Plan=====
The UN, weighing in on the situation in the British Mandate, came up with Resolution 181: it proposed 55% of the land be held by a Jewish state and 45% by a Palestinian Arab state, with Jerusalem under international control. Thirty-three countries approved, including the entire Anglophone world and the Soviet Union among others. Nearly the entire Arab world rejected this proposal, along with Orthodox rabbis who appeared at the UN. Along with the massacre of Deir Yassin and Israeli declaration of independence the following year came a steady stream of immigration encouraged by the Zionists; for Palestinian Arab sovereignty and determination, the outlook was bleak. The Arab states, which recently declared their own independence from the European imperialists, chose not to sit back and watch: Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq sent forces to Palestine, which also was the founding event of the Arab League. 
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Some actors weren't concerned about the self-determination of Palestinians however-- King Abdullah of Jordan, for one, sought to expand his borders, beginning special negotiations with Zionist organizations. King Faruq of Egypt also didn't show conviction on the issue, according to Professor of International Relations Fawas A. Gerges. That being said, it was only a matter of weeks before Israel was surrounded by Arab troops, at which point the UN called for a 4-week-long ceasefire. Though there was a UN arms embargo on the entire region, Israel evaded the UN by importing Czechoslovakian armaments seized by Slansky and company. 

Using the time to regroup and reload, Israel immediately launched a counteroffensive once the ceasefire ended. Forming garrisons in Lydda and Ramla in the West Bank, two Palestinian towns in UN-allocated Arab territory, the IDF expelled 70,000 Arabs from their homes, to join the other thousands of Palestinian refugees of the Nakba. This is known as the Lydda Death March. 

In total, over half of the Arab population fled or were expelled, and many more were killed.

With their armies uncoordinated and the IDF occupying Palestinian-Arab territory in the West Bank, King Faruq led the charge to create a Palestinian government based in Gaza; however, this was mostly a play by Faruq against King Abdullah, to prevent his expansion. This took the Arab leadership away from focus on repelling , while the Israelis continued gaining ground and fortifying what they had already taken. The IDF launched an air raid on Egyptian forces in Gaza. By 1949, Egypt was defeated, destroying both the plans of Faruq and the hope for a unified Palestine from the rest of the Arab League.

Egypt turned to Britain's authority to protect its territory, and the Arab states signed bilateral peace agreements with Israel, which then occupied 77% of the former British Mandate of Palestine. Egypt continued its military presence in the Gazan area and Jordan annexed the West Bank. Israel controlled the larger portion of Jerusalem, and the armistice which followed roughly set the modern borders of all future conflicts.

The State of Israel was founded on May 14th, 1948. President Truman issued a statement within a few hours recognizing Israel. On May 17th that year Britain attempted to distance itself from Israel in a statement, claiming it "didn't meet the criteria" of an independent state. That same day the USSR, via Molotov, issued a formal recognition of Israel. 

Some point out Stalin and the USSR's early support for Israel, which we see as a mistake which was corrected only a few years later, both personally by Stalin and by the few Soviet republics which supported Israel. Stalin recognized Israel by simply accepting reality as it was; he thought that Israel, on the basis of Labor Zionism, might become socialist and adhere to the outline given by the Balfour Declaration. However, Stalin did not sanction the Czech arms sent to the Zionists by the Geminder-Slansky group, while he didn't interfere with other Soviets arming Syria. Stalin supported the Israeli Mapam party, a left-wing party which was really an outfit for Soviet intelligence. In the aftermath of the 1948 war, when many Soviet Jews applied for visas and exit permits to emigrate, Soviet authorities arrested and deported Jews who expressed pro-Zionist and pro-Israel sentiments. From May 15th, 1948 until the end of 1951, emigration was halted; only four old women and a disabled ex-serviceman were allowed to leave for Israel. It was on February 12th, 1953 that the Soviet Union severed its relations with Israel after a state-sanctioned bombing, which injured three Soviet officials and destroyed the Soviet embassy. The Soviets soon closed the embassy and withdrew its personnel from the area. Finally, when Stalin was informed of the Czech arms shipments to Israel by Matyas Rakosi, they together informed Gottwald and other Czech leaders. The Geminder-Slansky group was executed on charges of service to the UBD (Yugoslav secret service), MI6, CIA, and Mossad.