Yom HaAtzmaut — Israel’s Independence Day — is often misunderstood.
Many believe that it commemorates an Israeli victory in the 1948 War against the Palestinians and various Arab armies.
But that’s just not true.
What took place on the fifth of Iyar, 5708 (May 14, 1948), was that the British Empire officially terminated its mandate over Palestine and withdrew its forces from the country following a nearly decade long urban guerrilla war waged by the Leḥi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) underground.
Synthesizing revolutionary theory with the deep historic yearnings of the Jewish people, Leḥi succeeded in dragging the larger Etzel (National Military Organization) militia into conflict with the British and antagonizing the contradictions between the Zionist movement and British regime.
By ultimately making the price of occupation more expensive for the British than the benefits of exploitation, Leḥi created a situation in which it was no longer beneficial for the empire to remain in Palestine. In fact, according to official British documents, the empire left Palestine as a result of “Jewish terrorism.”
The British Mandate for Palestine was terminated on the fifth of Iyar. The empire withdrew its forces on that day and the Zionist leadership declared an independent Jewish state. We therefore celebrate this day as Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day).
The war that began on the following day, when several Arab armies (two of which were armed, trained and led by British officers) invaded the country, is actually not a war we celebrate because it’s not a war we won.
The big winners of that war were Egypt and Transjordan. Under British command, their armies respectively conquered Gaza and the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) – including Jerusalem. The big losers of that war were the Palestinians, who suffered a Nakba.
The people of Israel survived the 1948 War. And as a result of our tragic history, it makes sense that some Jews might confuse survival with victory. But we cannot claim to have won a war for the land of Israel while losing Jerusalem and the cradle of Jewish civilization (we won it back 19 years later👍🏼).
