Since the very founding of Israel 75 years ago, waves of violence have shaken the young state. As we confront the new, tragic circumstances that began with the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre and hostage-taking, J. decided to look back at how we wrote about the clashes and wars that have plagued the nation.
What follows are selections from J.’s archives, almost exactly as they appeared on the printed page. We only cleaned up a couple of typos. (See our entire archives going back to 1895 at jweekly.com/archives.)
May 21, 1948: Forces of Haganah battle Arab invaders: Tel Aviv bombed
As the British mandate over Palestine ended at midnight Friday, the new State of Israel came into being.
It was proclaimed here eight hours before — the first Jewish state in nearly 2,000 years.
Formal proclamation in brief ceremonies packed with history-making drama came while Arab armies were poised to pounce into the Holy Land and even as Arab planes swooped over Tel Aviv.
May 21, 1948: New state gains U.S., Russian recognition; UN works for peace. Security council asked to halt fighting; Arabs battle Haganah forces
With the new State of Israel now formally created and given immediate recognition by the United States, diplomatic and military events have followed with dramatic impact. The highlights are:
- Recognition by the United States ten minutes after birth of the new state was proclaimed was followed by Guatemala’s recognition. Russia followed four days later.
- Massed Arab armies swarmed across the borders, invading Israel from north and south, shelled from the east and bombed from the air. Haganah says the Lebanese attacked across the border from the north. Egyptians speared into the Negev desert, and Trans-Jordan shelled Jordan Valley’s frontier.
- Tel Aviv, Israel’s capital, was bombed repeatedly. Troops moved toward the city obviously aiming to isolate it and cut off supplies. Jews were fighting for Jerusalem, which now seems doomed to fall into Arab hands.
- State of Israel called on United nations for recognition and asked UN to declare invading Arabs aggressors.
- United States and Russia joined in seeking speedy UN action to halt fighting between Jews and Arabs. UN Security Council is considering appropriate action to bring about Holy Land peace.
- An official White House announcement states that President Truman is considering lifting the embargo on the shipment of arms to the Middle East.
Sept. 3, 1948: The case of the Arab DPs
Moshe Shertok, foreign minister of Israel, minced no words in his straight-from-the-shoulder note to the Arabs in reply to their plea on behalf of Arab displaced persons.
He had heard enough of the argument that Israel ought to do something about the several hundred thousand Arabs who fled from Palestine when hostilities began and now have become displaced persons in neighboring Arab countries. He had listened too long to Arab pleas that these Arab DPs should be permitted to return to their homes in the Holy Land.
He explained that to readmit these Arabs to Israel would be bringing into the new state a politically explosive and economically destitute element. He emphasized that the Arabs fled from Palestine in the first place not because of Jewish pressure but “as the direct result of Arab aggression from outside.” In other words, had there been no Arab aggression and had the UN partition plan been implemented, there would not have been an Arab DP problem.
April 12, 1957: Egypt warns Israel against trying to use Suez canal
Cairo radio warned Israel this week that Egypt will destroy any Israeli ship attempting to pass through the Suez Canal, regardless of consequences.
While the Israeli government made no official comment on reports from Arab sources of an impending attack by Israel on Jordan, all indications here pointed to the rumors as only Arab propaganda. In Amman, Jordan, officials gave no indication that reports of contemplating attacks were true. Israelis were busy preparing for Passover.
Sept. 29, 1967: ‘One long, sleepless night’: Israeli journalist in S.F. tells war horrors
One of Israel’s many unsung heroes, Dan Mirkin, an outstanding journalist of his country, was in San Francisco this week.
A star reporter for Haaretz of Tel Aviv, one of Israel’s largest dailies, Mirkin served in the victorious Suez campaign of the recent war and at the end of the six days of fighting was with his comrades when they reached the shores of the canal.
“The war for those who participated in it did not last six days and six nights but one long day,” he says, “or maybe one long sleepless night.”… “We can’t as yet realize that the shooting is over. We know that we have won and we are glad to be alive.”
Oct. 19, 1973: ‘War will end when enemy beaten’ –Golda
Premier Golda Meir told a special session of Parliament that the war would end “when we have succeeded in beating the enemy.”
The 75-year-old Premier said that “up to now no proposal for a cease-fire has been made to the Israeli government by any political factor whatsoever.” She said that the Egyptians and Syrians “have seemingly not yet been beaten enough to evince any desire for a cease-fire.”
Mrs. Meir’s tone was grave throughout her half-hour speech and she appeared on the verge of tears as she spoke of the hundreds of families whose “dear ones have gone out to the defense of our people and our country and have received the terrible news that a son, a husband, a father or a brother will never return.”
Dec. 25, 1987: New unrest patterns in Gaza, West Bank alarm Israeli leaders
Israelis pondering the unprecedented wave of Arab violence have discerned new elements and patterns that are causing them deep concern for the future. The latest and most serious of those elements was the spread of rioting to East Jerusalem last weekend, on a scale as bad as any in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, though no lives were lost.
Second, there is the real threat of sympathetic unrest among Israel’s normally quiescent Arab population, whose expressions of solidarity with the Palestinians in the administered territories already have been heard. Finally, and possibly most dangerous in the long term, is the religious fervor that seems to have joined Palestinian nationalism as the driving force behind the disturbances.
The right-wing [in Israel] is more determined than ever to hold on to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The left is more convinced than ever of the need to reach a settlement that would divest Israel of a hostile, bitter, resentful and ever more violent Arab population in the territories.
Oct. 13, 2000: Arab violence shakes Jews across the political spectrum
Calls to a sampling of prominent American Jewish thinkers from across the political spectrum revealed that most are shaken, if not despondent, about the depth of Arab violence and deeply discouraged that Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat took no action to quell the unrest.
Menachem Rosensaft, one of five Jewish activists ostracized for a 1988 meeting with Palestinian Liberation Organization leaders and Arafat long before Israeli leaders recognized him as a negotiating partner, was also critical of the Palestinians.
“It’s troubling when listening to the Palestinian leaders speak that you found no sense of trying to calm the rioters,” he said. “You want to accuse Israel of using excessive force? That’s a discussion to be had once the stone throwers have stopped throwing rocks and once people have ceased sniping.” Those who never felt peace with the Palestinians was possible are, not surprisingly, saying the violence is vindication of what they’ve been saying all along.
Feb. 3, 2006: Will Hamas’ politics prove to be moderate or militant?
Hamas’ sweeping election victory is forcing all key players to reassess their positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has created a widespread sense of uncertainty about the future, with Israelis, Palestinians and outside observers raising a host of fundamental questions.
The big question is whether Hamas in power will moderate its radical positions or put Palestinian society on a collision course with Israel and the Western world.