In case you haven’t been refreshing this blog page hourly
since it was first published in November 2013, this is the third post on
Israeli history. See below for parts 1
and 2.
Part two left off on May 19, 1948 where the British left,
Israel declared itself a state, and the U.S. and the Soviet Union had both
formally recognized it as such. The Arab
league, which had previously rejected the UN resolution, marched into the new
State of Israel the next day, launching the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the fighting
between Arabs and Jews continued on and off throughout the remainder of 1948, much as it seemingly has all through history.
Peace talks were held on the Greek isle of Rhodes beginning in
January of 1949 and Israel signed armistices with Egypt in February, Lebanon in
March, Jordan in April, and Syria in July.
In between those agreements, Britain officially recognized
the state of Israel and they were admitted as a member of the United Nations in
May 1949.
Straying briefly from history for a bit, the Jewish legislative government is unicameral (one-house)
and called the Knesset. It has 120
members and is responsible for the passage of all laws, as well as electing the
Prime Minister and President. In Israel,
the President is mainly a ceremonial position.
The Prime Minister is considered the head of government and holds the real
power. David Ben-Gurion was elected the
first Prime Minister in May 1948 and 32 others have served since then with
Benjamin Netanyahu currently serving in that position since March of 2009. With the Knesset and their role in government established, let's get back to history.
The Knesset passed The Law of Return in 1950. They granted all Jews, those with Jewish
ancestry and their spouses the right to come back to Israel and gain
citizenship. Not surprisingly, the population
of Israel rose from 800,000 to two million by 1958. Many of these were Jewish Holocaust survivors
from Arab and Muslim countries who faced persecution or expulsion.
The quick influx of people led to a nationwide shortage of food and
other items. This led to a period called Austerity which
lasted from 1949 to 1959. Initially, the
Israeli government established control and distribution of staple foods like
oil, sugar, and margarine but control and rationing was later expanded to include furniture and
even shoes. Each citizen received coupons
each month and families were given a certain amount of foodstuffs. The food rationing allowed for a mere 1,600
calories per day for adults, although children, pregnant women, and the elderly
were given more.
Although officially lasting until 1959, much of the
rationing was cancelled in 1953 after Germany agreed to pay Israel 3
billion marks over the next 14 years for the persecution suffered by the Jews during
the Holocaust.
Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, a major organizer of the Holocaust
and in charge of deporting Jews to ghettos and extermination camps in
German-occupied Eastern Europe, fled to Argentina using a fake passport in 1950
after World War II and was living there under a false identity. He was captured by the Israeli Mossad in May
1960 and taken back to Israel. He was
put on trial in 1961 where testimonies of Holocaust survivors led to him being found guilty and sentenced to death. The testimony provided at the Eichmann trial was
considered a turning point in public awareness of the Holocaust. His hanging in 1962 is the only recorded death
sentence by an Israeli court.
Since then, Israel has had numerous conflicts with its neighboring
countries as well as internal conflicts.
The Palestine Liberation Organization, known better as the PLO, is
responsible for most of the internal struggles.
The PLO was established in 1964 and has attacked Jewish targets all over
the world. Probably the most notable was the murder
of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
The conflicts continue to the present day. Israel must remain ever vigilant and on guard
due to a continued intolerance from most Middle Eastern countries for their
beliefs. Sad really, when you consider
the four predominant religions of the region are Judaism, Christianity, Islam,
and the Baha’i faith and each of them include Abraham in their early histories. It’s also sad when you consider Israel’s size
in relation to its neighbors.
This was an eye-opening exercise for me. I was certainly aware of the conflict the
Israeli’s have dealt with during modern history but the details have been very interesting to learn
and wound up being much more extensive than I’d originally planned them to be. Thanks for sticking it out to the end. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as
well.
Until next entry,
Tim
No comments:
Post a Comment