Israel and the Arab states: from total struggle to partial peace
Abstract
Within the Mandate system established by the Allies after the First World War, Britain received the mandate over Palestine, which permitted it, in accordance with the Balfour Declaration, to promote the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people. This commitment was in direct contradiction with the aspirations of Palestinian Arabs, who, like their "brothers" in Syria and Iraq, wanted to acquire full political sovereignty, eitheir within a unified Arab state (Faysal's Arab Kingdom of 1920) or within Mandate Palestine. Given their contradictory expectations, a struggle between the two communities was inevitable and both tried to enlist outside support: the Zionism relied mainly on the Jewish diaspora and the British imperial power (until 1939), while the Palestinians relied on the Arab and the Islamic world...