The War of Independence and 1948 War Flashcards

Vocabulary and key terms regarding the 1948 Israeli War of Independence, including key figures, military operations, and strategic events.

Sonneborn Institute

An organization that helped the young Jewish state survive the 1948 war by securing weapons.

Mufti al-Husseini

An Arab leader who worked with Hitler, visited death camps, and encouraged riots and the Arab Revolt in 1936 against Jews.

Etzion Bloc

A Jewish community attacked by the Mufti after the war, resulting in the effective killing of the community there.

Mandatory non-cooperation

A late 1947 feature characterized by Britain's undisguised partiality for the Arab military effort and refusal to let Jews establish a defense.

Operation Nachshon

A military operation intended to save Jerusalem and allow supplies to reach the city through main roads blocked by Arabs.

Deir Yassin

An event in 1948 viewed by Israelis as an operation where civilians died and by Palestinians as a brutal racial massacre.

David Ben Gurion

The leader who decided to declare the State of Israel on May 15, 1948, right before the war to ensure it would not be re-negotiated by the UN.

Arab Legion

The Jordanian military unit that fired artillery, captured the city of Jerusalem, and starved those unable to reach supplies.

Kibbutz Yad Mordechai

A community pounded by the Egyptian Army during the 1948 war that fought until the bitter end.

Avia S-199

Czechoslovakian Messerschmitts, originally Nazi planes, that were sold to Israel and used by American and British fighter pilots to help the young state survive.

Latrun Fortress

A strategic location given by the British to Arabs that controlled the highway road to Jerusalem, effectively starving the city.

Burma Road

An extra pathway dug by Israelis to bypass the Latrun Fortress and bring supplies to West Jerusalem.

Altalena Affair

An incident involving an IRGUN ship smuggling weapons; David Ben Gurion ordered it fired upon to maintain army unity, resulting in deaths and nearly causing a civil war.

Menachem Begin

The leader of the IRGUN who surrendered during the Altalena Affair to avoid a civil war.

Bernadotte

A UN delegate assassinated by the LEHI because they believed he was a biased British delegate favoring the Arabs.

Shoah

Another term for the Holocaust; many survivors of this event fought and died as 1% of the Israeli population during the 1948 War of Independence.