The Jewish Revolt Against British Rule in Palestine: A Pivotal Chapter in the Birth of Israel

The Roots of Conflict: Zionism and British Mandate

The story of Jewish resistance against British rule in Palestine represents one of the most dramatic turning points in the creation of modern Israel. What began as a partnership between Zionists and the British Empire deteriorated into open warfare by 1944, setting the stage for Israel’s eventual independence. This conflict emerged from the complex interplay of Jewish aspirations, British imperial interests, and Arab opposition in the volatile years surrounding World War II.

The British government had initially supported Zionist ambitions through the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which promised a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. However, as Arab resistance grew throughout the 1920s and 1930s, British policy shifted toward balancing competing claims. The 1939 White Paper marked a decisive turn, restricting Jewish immigration just as European Jews desperately sought escape from Nazi persecution. This policy, seen by Zionists as a betrayal during their people’s darkest hour, planted the seeds for armed resistance.

The Fracturing of Jewish Resistance Movements

As World War II raged, Palestine’s Jewish community (the Yishuv) faced agonizing choices. Mainstream Zionist leaders like David Ben-Gurion adopted the policy of supporting Britain against Nazi Germany while continuing to oppose the White Paper. However, more radical factions viewed Britain as the greater immediate threat to Jewish survival and statehood.

Two militant organizations emerged as the vanguard of armed resistance:
– Irgun (Irgun Zvai Leumi): Initially formed in 1937 to protect Jewish settlements, it turned against British rule after the 1939 White Paper
– Lehi (Lohamei Herut Israel): A splinter group known as the Stern Gang, which pursued even more extreme tactics including assassination

The ideological divide became stark when Lehi leader Abraham Stern sought an alliance with Nazi Germany against Britain – a shocking proposal that reflected the desperate calculus of some Zionist extremists. Stern’s overtures were ignored by the Nazis, who remained committed to Jewish annihilation regardless of political expediency.

Escalation and the Declaration of War

By 1944, with the Holocaust’s full horror becoming apparent, patience with British immigration restrictions wore thin. Under new leader Menachem Begin (a future Israeli prime minister), Irgun launched a renewed campaign against British targets. Lehi specialized in assassinations, most notably killing British Minister Lord Moyne in Cairo in November 1944.

The conflict reached its bloody climax with the King David Hotel bombing on July 22, 1946, where Irgun operatives detonated explosives that killed 91 people. This attack, targeting the British administrative headquarters, marked a point of no return in British-Zionist relations. While controversial even within the Jewish community, these violent tactics succeeded in convincing Britain that maintaining control of Palestine was untenable.

The British Retreat and UN Intervention

Exhausted by World War II and unable to reconcile Arab and Jewish demands, Britain referred the Palestine question to the United Nations in 1947. The UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) proposed partition – a Jewish state and an Arab state sharing the land. On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly approved this plan, setting the stage for both Jewish celebration and Arab rejection.

As British withdrawal became imminent, civil war erupted between Palestine’s Jewish and Arab communities. Jewish forces gained the upper hand through better organization and arms, while Palestinian society fractured under the pressure of conflict and displacement. The controversial events at Deir Yassin in April 1948, where over 100 Arab villagers were killed by Jewish paramilitaries, became a symbol of the war’s brutality and contributed to Palestinian flight.

The Birth of Israel and Regional War

On May 14, 1948, as the British mandate expired, Jewish leaders declared the establishment of the State of Israel. Neighboring Arab states immediately invaded, beginning the first Arab-Israeli war. Despite being outnumbered, Israeli forces prevailed, expanding their territory beyond the UN partition lines. By war’s end in 1949, Israel controlled 78% of former Mandate Palestine, with Jordan occupying the West Bank and Egypt holding Gaza.

The Palestinian Nakba (“catastrophe”) saw approximately 750,000 Palestinians become refugees – a dispossession that remains central to the ongoing conflict. For Arabs across the region, 1948 represented a profound humiliation that would reshape Middle Eastern politics for generations.

Legacy and Lasting Consequences

The Jewish revolt against Britain succeeded in its immediate goal of ending British rule and establishing a Jewish state. However, it also established patterns of violence and displacement that continue to haunt the region. Key figures from the underground movements, including Begin and Yitzhak Shamir, would later become Israeli prime ministers, carrying their experiences into the governance of the new state.

For Palestinians, 1948 remains the foundational trauma of their national narrative. The refugee crisis created during the war persists today, with millions of Palestinians and their descendants still living in camps across the Middle East.

The British departure from Palestine marked the end of an imperial era and the beginning of new conflicts that would define the modern Middle East. The events of 1947-1949 established the basic parameters of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that continues to this day, demonstrating how the violent birth of Israel solved one set of problems while creating others that remain unresolved.