In 1947, the United Nations voted in favor of the partition of Palestine. The Jewish area was split into three non-contiguous plots, with no consideration of security: the eastern Galilee, the coastal plain from Haifa down to Tel Aviv, and the majority being the uncultivable Negev desert. The other half of the land was to form a new Arab state. Jerusalem and its 100,000 Jews was to be completely surrounded on four sides by the Arab state, and administered as an international zone. Despite these unfavorable terms, the Jewish Agency immediately accepted the Partition Plan; the Arabs immediately rejected it. Fighting began soon after, leading to a full-scale assault in 1948 by troops from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi and Yemen.

Day in Jewish History
Kislev 17
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