Since the time of the biblical patriarchs, who lived, according to scientists, in the II millennium BC. e., the land of Israel is sacred to the Jewish people. It was bequeathed to him by God and, according to Jewish teachings, will become the site of the coming of the Messiah, which will usher in a new happy era in his life. It is here, on the Promised Land, that all the main shrines of Judaism and places associated with the history of modern Israel are located.
The path to the land bequeathed to God
Studying the history of ancient Israel, you can safely rely on the materials related to it, set forth in the Old Testament, since the reliability of most of them is confirmed by modern scholars. So, on the basis of excavations conducted in Mesopotamia, the historicity of the Jewish patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was established. The period of their life, dating back to about the XVIII-XVII centuries. BC e., is considered the beginning of the history of Israel.
Everyone who is familiar with the text of the Bible undoubtedly remembers the sufferings of the Jewish people described in it, which, by the will of fate, ended up in Egypt and fell under the heavy oppression of the pharaohs. It is also well known that the Lord sent them his prophet Moses, who rescued his compatriots from slavery and after nearly forty years of wandering in the desert brought them to the borders of the Earth, bequeathed by God to their forefather Abraham. All this, as mentioned above, has scientific confirmation and is not in doubt among researchers.
Here, before, the nomadic Jewish people switched to a settled way of life and for more than three centuries waged a struggle with the neighbors surrounding them, expanding their own territory and ensuring national independence. This period of its history is marked by a very important process, which consisted in the fact that 12 Jewish tribes (tribes) who came to the territory of ancient Israel, forced by joint efforts to confront countless enemies, merged into a single people, connected by a common religion and culture.
According to archaeological data, about 1200 BC. e. in the territory of the current state of Israel, there were already about 250 Jewish settlements. The war with the tribes of the Philistines, Amalekites, Jebusites, and other peoples, described in detail in the Old Testament, belongs to the same period.
Kings of israel
A little later, namely around 1020 BC. e., the Jews found their first anointed king of God named Saul. Note that, when answering the question of how old Israel is as a state, Israel often focuses on this date, since it represents the starting point for the existence of a strictly delimited vertical power in it. Thus, in this case we are talking about a period exceeding 3 thousand years.
After Saul's death, power passed to his successor, King David, who possessed an outstanding leadership talent. Thanks to his wise and at the same time decisive actions, the Jews finally managed to pacify their warlike neighbors and push the limits of the kingdom of Israel all the way to Egypt and the shores of the Euphrates. Under him, the process of uniting the 12 tribes of Israel into a single and powerful people was finally completed.
The son of Tsar David Solomon, who went down in history as the highest example of wisdom, which made it possible to find solutions to the most complex problems, brought even greater glory to the state. Inheriting from the father's throne in 965 BC. e., he made the main priority of his activities the development of the economy, the strengthening of previously constructed cities and the construction of new ones. His name is associated with the creation of the first Jerusalem temple, which was the center of the religious and national life of the people.
The collapse of the former single state and the Babylonian captivity
But with the death of King Solomon, the history of the state of Israel entered a period of acute domestic political crisis caused by the struggle for power that erupted between the heir sons. The conflict gradually developed into a full-scale civil war and ended with the division of the country into two independent states. The northern part, with its capital in Samaria, retained the name Israel, and the southern began to be called Judea. Its main city remained Jerusalem.
As this has happened many times in world history, the separation of a single and powerful state inevitably leads to its weakening, and the newly independent territories inevitably become the prey of the aggressors. This happened in this case. Having existed for two centuries, Israel fell under the onslaught of the Assyrian kingdom, and a century and a half after that, Judea was captured by Nebuchadnezzar II. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were driven into slavery, which lasted for nearly half a century and was called the Babylonian captivity.
The tragedy of Israel and Judea was the impetus for the beginning of a new stage in the life of the Jewish people - the formation of the diaspora, in which Judaism became a religious system that developed already outside the Promised Land. His historical merit lies in the fact that, thanks to a common faith, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob scattered around the world have managed to maintain their national identity.
Further blows of fate
The captives managed to return to their homeland only in 538 BC. e., after the Persian king Cyrus, having captured the Babylonian kingdom, granted them freedom. Their first act was the restoration of the destroyed Temple and the offering of thankful sacrifices to God for deliverance from slavery. However, the gained independence was short-lived. In 332, a flood of conquerors poured onto Israeli land again. This time they were hordes of Alexander the Great. Having conquered the country, the celebrated commander established control over all areas of life in it, leaving the Jews only religious independence.
It was possible to restore the lost sovereignty only after a series of uprisings, accompanied by bloody battles. However, here the joy was short-lived. In 63 BC e. Roman troops under the command of Pompey the Great captured Judea, turning it into one of the many colonies of their empire. In 37 BC e. the ruler of the country was appointed Roman protege - King Herod.
Jerusalem is the capital of the Christian world
Some of the subsequent events related to the history of ancient Israel and Judea are described in detail in the New Testament. This section of the Bible tells how the beginning of our era was marked by the incarnation from the earthly Virgin Mary of the Son of God Jesus Christ, his preaching work, death on the Cross and the subsequent Resurrection, which gave rise to a new religion - Christianity, which spread and strengthened, despite the severe persecution from authorities.
In the year 70, His prophecy about the impending tragedy of Jerusalem came true. The Roman troops, having captured the city, put to death about 5 thousand of its inhabitants and destroyed the Second Temple (the one that was restored at the end of the Babylonian captivity). From then on, Judea, falling under the direct control of Rome, became known as Palestine.
After Christianity gained the status of the official religion of the Roman Empire in the first half of the 4th century, and then spread to European states, the kingdom of Israel became a sacred land for all its followers, which most unpleasantly affected the lives of the Jews.
They were forbidden to appear in Jerusalem under pain of death. An exception was made only once a year, when, according to tradition, the destruction of the Second Temple was lamented publicly. This shameful law lasted until 636. It was abolished by the Arab conquerors, who captured Palestine and granted the Jews freedom of religion, but at the same time established an additional tax on faith.
Palestine in the hands of the Crusaders, Mamluks and Turkish invaders
The next stage in the history of Palestine and Israel was the era of the Crusades. It began with the fact that in 1099, European knights, under the pretext of the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher, captured Jerusalem and put to death most of its Jewish population. Having ruled in Palestine for a little less than two centuries, in 1291 they were expelled by the Mamelukes - representatives of the Egyptian military class. These invaders also held the country in their power for two hundred years and, bringing to complete decline, practically without resistance handed over to the new invaders who came from the Ottoman Empire.
During the period of 4-century Ottoman rule, the history of Palestine and Israel developed relatively well due to the fact that the Turks, content with receiving taxes from the Jews from them, did not interfere in their inner life, providing a fairly large freedom. As a result, by the middle of the 19th century, the number of residents of Jerusalem had risen sharply, and active construction of new neighborhoods outside the city walls began.
The first steps towards the creation of an independent state
The initial period of the history of the creation of Israel in its modern form was marked by the emergence of Zionism, which was a mass Jewish movement aimed at liberating the country from the oppression of the invaders and reviving its national identity. One of his most prominent ideologists was the outstanding Israeli statesman Theodor Herzl (photo below), whose book The Jewish State, published in 1896, prompted thousands of representatives of the Jewish diaspora from many countries of the world to leave their homes and to rush to "Historical homeland." This process developed so actively that by 1914 there were at least 85 thousand Jews there.
During the First World War, one of the tasks facing the British army was the capture of Palestine, which was under Turkish rule for more than 400 years. Along with other units, it included the “Jewish Legion”, formed on the initiative of two major figures of Zionism - Joseph Trumpeldor and Vladimir Zhabotinsky.
As a result of fierce fighting, the Turks were defeated, and in December 1917, British troops occupied the entire territory of Palestine. They were commanded by Field Marshal Edmund Allenby, whose name today is immortalized in the name of the main street of Tel Aviv. The liberation from the Turkish yoke was an important step towards the creation of the state of Israel, but there were still many unresolved problems.
The Balfour Declaration and its implications
By this time, Britain had become the center where the political leadership of the Zionist movement was operating. Thanks to the active work launched by such representatives as Haim Weizmann, Jekhel Chlenov and Nakhum Sokolov, the government managed to persuade that the creation of a large Jewish community in Palestine could serve the national interests of Britain and ensure the security of the strategically important Suez Canal.
In this regard, in November 1917, that is, even before the final defeat of the Ottoman forces, Her Majesty’s cabinet minister Sir Arthur Balfour conveyed to the head of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain, Lord Walter Rothschild, a message stating that the country's government was positive about the creation of a national Palestinian Jewish state. This document went down in the history of the state of Israel under the name of the Balfour Declaration.
Over the next three years, Italy, France, and the United States expressed their agreement with the British government on the Palestinian issue. In April 1929, at a specially convened conference in San Remo, representatives of these states signed a joint memorandum that served as the basis for a post-war settlement of the situation in the region.
League of Nations Mandate
The next step in the history of the creation of Israel was the decision of the League of Nations to give Britain a mandate to establish its own administrative leadership in Palestine, whose goal was to establish a "national Jewish home" there. This document, signed in November 1922, stated, among other things, that the British authorities are obliged to facilitate Jewish immigration to Palestine and to encourage the resettlement of the region. It was especially emphasized that no part of the mandated territory can be transferred to the administration of any other state.
It seemed to many then that the creation of the state of Israel was a settled issue, and it was only a matter of some formalities that would not take much time. However, real events have shown the failure of such optimistic expectations. The massive immigration of Jews to Palestine provoked protests from the Arab population and caused an acute ethnic conflict. In order to resolve it, the British authorities imposed restrictions on the entry of Jewish returnees and their acquisition of land, which violated the basic provisions of the mandate of the League of Nations.
Not achieving the desired result, the British were forced to continue taking emergency measures. In 1937, they divided the entire mandated territory into two parts, one of which, closed to the entry of Jews, was assigned to the formation of an Arab state called Transjordan. However, this concession was not enough and was perceived as a desire to undermine the unity of the Arab world, which claimed all of Palestine.
United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine
The history of the creation of Israel entered a new phase at the end of World War II. As a result of the targeted actions of the German command, more than 6 million Jews were exterminated, and the question of creating an independent state in which representatives of this nationality could live without fear of a repetition of the catastrophe became very relevant. At the same time, it became apparent that the British government was not able to solve this problem alone, and in April 1947, the recognition of Israel as an independent state was put on the agenda of the Second Session of the UN General Assembly.
The United Nations, set up shortly before, tried to find a compromise solution to the controversial issue and supported the division of Palestine. At the same time, Jerusalem was to receive the status of an international city, which would be managed by UN representatives. This approach did not suit any of the warring parties.
The majority of the Jewish population, especially its religious and orthodox part, considered the decision of the international body to be inappropriate for their national interests. In turn, the leaders of the League of Arab States openly stated that they would make every effort to impede its implementation. In November 1947, the head of the Supreme Arab Council, Jamal al-Husseini, threatened an immediate outbreak of hostilities if at least some of the territory went to the Jews.
Nevertheless, the separation plan of Palestine, which marked the beginning of the history of modern Israel, was adopted, and the position taken by the government of the Soviet Union and US President Harry Truman played a key role in this. The leaders of both great powers, making such a decision, pursued the same goal - to strengthen their influence in the Middle East and create a reliable bridgehead there.
Aggravation of Interethnic Struggle
The further period in the history of the creation of Israel, which lasted about two years, was marked by large-scale military operations unfolding between Arabs and Jewish armed groups, commanded by a prominent statesman and future Prime Minister of the country, David Ben-Gurion. The clash was particularly acute after the British troops left the territory they had previously occupied in connection with the termination of the mandate.
According to historians, the Arab-Israeli war of 1947-1949 can be divided into two stages. The first of them, covering the period from November 1947 to March 1948, is characterized by the fact that the Jewish armed forces were limited only to defensive actions and carried out a limited number of retaliatory actions. Subsequently, they switched to active offensive tactics, and soon captured most of the strategically important points, such as Haifa, Tiberias, Safed, Jaffa and Acre.
Israel Declaration of Independence
An important moment in the history of the creation of Israel was the statement by US Secretary of State George Marshall in May 1948. It was, in fact, an ultimatum in which the interim People’s Administration of the Jewish state was proposed to transfer all power to the UN Security Committee, whose duties included ensuring a ceasefire. Otherwise, America refused to help the Jews in the event of the resumption of Arab aggression.
This statement was the reason for the convening on May 12, 1949 of an emergency meeting of the People’s Council, at which, based on the results of the vote, it was decided to reject the US proposal. Two days later, on May 14, another important event occurred - the proclamation of the independence of Israel. The corresponding document was signed in the building of the Tel Aviv Museum, located on Rothschild Boulevard.
The Declaration of Independence of Israel said that, having traveled for many centuries and having suffered many troubles, the Jewish people want to return to their historical homeland. As a legal justification, the UN resolution on the division of Palestine, adopted in November 1947, was cited. On its basis, the Arabs were invited to stop the bloodshed and respect the principles of national equality.
Epilogue
So the creation of the modern state of Israel took place. Despite all the efforts made by the international community, peace in the Middle East is still only a ghostly dream - how many years Israel has existed, its confrontation with the countries of the Arab world continues for as long.
Sometimes it takes the form of large-scale hostilities. Among them, we can recall the events of 1948, when Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria and Transjordan tried jointly to destroy the state of Israel, as well as short-term but bloody wars - the Six Day (June 1967) and Doomsday (October 1973).
At present, the result of the confrontation is the intifada, unleashed by the Arab military movement and aimed at capturing the entire territory of Palestine. Nevertheless, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob remember the covenant God made to them, and they firmly believe that sooner or later peace and quiet will prevail in their historical homeland.