The War of Independence 1948

Vocabulary terms covering key figures, operations, and events of the 1948 Israeli War of Independence.

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 and visited death camps, encouraged Arab riots in the 1920s and the 1936 Arab Revolt, and later attacked the Etzion Bloc.

Operation Nachshon

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

Deir Yassin

An event viewed by Israelis as an operation where civilians unfortunately died, and by Palestinians as a brutal racial massacre and cleansing.

David Ben Gurion

The leader who decided to declare the state on May 15th, 1948, just before the invasion of 5 Arab armies to ensure the state was established and not renegotiated by the UN.

Jordanian Arab Legion

The military force that fired artillery at Jerusalem, captured the city, and starved those who could not reach supplies.

Kibbutz Yad Mordechai

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

Avia S-199

Czechoslovakian planes (originally Nazi Messerschmitts) sold to Israel after WWII that were instrumental in the survival of the young army.

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 Arab-controlled Latrun and bring supplies to save West Jerusalem.

Altalena Affair

An incident involving an Irgun ship smuggling arms; David Ben Gurion ordered it fired upon to maintain army unity, resulting in deaths but avoiding civil war.

Menachem Begin

The leader of the Irgun who surrendered during the Altalena Affair to prevent a civil war.

Bernadotte

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

LEHI

The group responsible for the assassination of the biased UN delegate Bernadotte.

1948 War Mortality Rate

Israel lost 6,000 soldiers or civilians to Arab aggression, representing 1% of its total population.