chained to their machine guns to make sure they did not desert. The Arab
forces also had a decided lack of military experience. By contrast, many Israeli
soldiers had served in the British army and had fought in North Africa. In
addition, the Israelis had superior military leaders, most of whom had been
trained as officers of the Palmach, a British unit of Jewish strike forces (Plugot
Mahatz, whence the name Palmach). In addition, the Israelis recruited Mickey
Marcus, a decorated American army officer, to lead their military campaign.
The war lasted until January 1949; during the subsequent six months, Israel
signed cease-fire agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria, based on
the front lines at the cessation of military hostilities. Israel wound up with 80
percent of Mandatory Palestine: 25 percent and 2,500 square miles more than
partition had allotted them. The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was
annexed by King Abdullah of Jordan. The Gaza Strip was annexed by Egypt.
The most controversial aspect of the War of Independence was the fate of
the civilian Arab population of what had been Palestine. Jews were a minority
in Mandatory Palestine in 1947; by the end of 1948, they were a majority. All
in all, there were 600,000 fewer Arabs in 1949 than there had been in 1947,
prompting the still controversial and debated question: Why did they leave?
Arab leaders and intellectuals claimed that these Arabs had been driven
out; Israelis claimed that they had fled at the instruction of Arab leaders, who
promised that they would be able to return once the Israelis had been van-
quished and driven out. In fact, there are a few documented instances of
Arabs being driven out, but no evidence of a mass effort by the Israelis to pur-
sue a policy of expulsion.
Moreover, many Arabs fled before Israeli forces reached their town or vil-
lage, and more than 30,000 had fled before Israeli independence was declared
on May 14. Many among the first to flee were Arab professionals and leaders,
who left for Egypt and Lebanon. Their departure by May 1948 led to a collapse
of Arab social services. As the Jews gained the upper hand in the war, a further
exodus of traditional Arab leaders and communal leaders followed, along with
thousands of town dwellers. Most thought they would return in the wake of
Arab victory. As more Arabs fled, more Arab social services collapsed.
Haifa is a useful case in point. Prior to 1948, Haifa had 70,000 Arab resi-
dents. From November 1947, Arab businessmen began to leave. A total of
25,000 Arabs had left by March 1948, and 20,000 more left in April, espe-
cially after the British left the city on April 21.
Most controversial perhaps was the tragic fate of Deir Yassin. On April 9,
1948, this Arab village was captured by the Irgun and the Stern Gang,
which, in the process of securing the village, executed more than 200 men,
women, and children. This incident, some historians have claimed, subse-
quently prompted entire Arab communities to flee in terror.
In fact, the extremist behavior of the Zionist/Israeli right quickly abated
after 1948. As the leaders of the Irgun and Lechi were absorbed into Israeli
politics and society, they largely abandoned their military activities and
234 Jews in the postwar world