The Inevitable War: the Arab-Israel War of 1947-49
In this article, a British military commentator attempts to sum up the force of events that led to the establishment of the state of Israel.
Sir Winston Churchill has called the Second World War the “Unnecessary War,” since it could so easily have been prevented. The Arab-Israel War, on the other hand, is more likely to be known in history as the “Inevitable War,” since it is hard to see how it could ever have been avoided. From the moment that Britain committed herself by the Balfour Declaration of 1917 to the establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine, a conflict between Jews and Arabs was inevitable.
This statement of fact is not intended to be a criticism of the Balfour Declaration; but it must surely be agreed that the Zionists could achieve their cherished ambition of an independent Jewish state only if the Arab inhabitants of Palestine were willing to yield them the land. Once the Arabs combined to resist further Jewish immigration into Palestine, then the Jews were compelled either to abandon their centuries-old ambition or to achieve it by force.
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