(1948—19)
As Israel declared its independence on 14-15 May 1948, armies of the Arab states invaded Palestine and engaged in open warfare with the defense forces of the new state, with the stated goals of preventing the establishment of a Jewish state and of assuring that all of Palestine would be in Arab hands. This first Arab-Israeli war (known in Israel as the War of Independence) involved troops from Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon, with assistance from other Arab quarters, against Israel. The war was long and costly: Israel lost some 4,000 soldiers and 2,000 civilians, about 1 percent of the Jewish population, and each side had successes and failures. The war ended in 1949 when armistice agreements were signed with the neighboring Arab states. Peace did not follow, and additional wars between Israel and the Arabs were fought over the ensuing decades.
See also Arab-Israeli Conflict.
Historical Dictionary of Israel. Bernard Reich David H. Goldberg. Edited by Jon Woronoff..