Why did Israel become a country?

Answer 1

After the Jews in Palestine declared independence as the State of Israel, war immediately broke out between the newborn state and its Arab neighbors, including Egypt and Jordan.

for: k12 students the answer is:

( Arab countries invaded Israel, and the first Arab-Israeli War began. )

Answer 2

Answer 1

So as to provide a homeland for the Jewish people, in an area that they had historically lived in as indicated in The Bible, and where thereafter there had been a constant Jewish presence.

Answer 2

As regards a bit more detail relating to the last 100 years, note that the Ottoman Empire controlled that area of the Middle East until the end of World War I. The British then controlled the area under a League of Nations and then a United Nations mandate from 1917 to 1948. (In the early 1920s, the British created Jordan in the area east of the Jordan River. The area west of the Jordan River continued under under Britain's mandate until 1948.) With Britain looking to end its mandate, the UN approved in 1947 a plan to partition the area west of the Jordan River into one state for the Jewish population, and one state for the Arab population. The Jewish population accepted the partition, but the Arab population did not and still has not clearly accepted the Jewish state. The Jewish population declared independence as the State of Israel in May 1948 on the day the British left, and has been a member of the UN since 1949.

Answer 3

There are two operative parts to that question. There is the implicit question as to whether a Jewish State is something that should exist. There is the explicit question as to whether the geographical location chosen for this Jewish State is proper for its mission.

1) Why a Jewish State: Herzl explained quite well that the European concept of a nation-state was dependent on the idea that all of the people in any particular nation were of the same ethnic stock and heritage. Jews were branded by this system to be "the Other" and were regarded at best as possible equals and at worse as traitors, spies, thieves, and fifth columns. When the Dreyfus Affair turned out marches in Paris that said "Death to the Jews" on account of a kangaroo court against a particular guiltless Jew, it became clear that the Jew could not be integrated into Europe. After the Holocaust, the strongest proof that the Jew and the European Nation-State were irreconcilable, this view of denigrating "the Other" persists. In Europe, it is now directed at the Muslims since the Jews are not large enough of a threat to the European System. Unlike Muslims, though, which can return to their countries of origin if the discrimination becomes intolerable, the Jews did not have such a place. This is why the Jewish State is necessary. Since it came into existence it has accepted Jewish political refugees from over 50 nations and flown missions at its own expense to rescue Jews from at least 10 nations.

2) Why that Location: Ahad Ha'am explains that the Jewish Soul is intrinsically connected to his history and in the same way that a German-American can never be as properly German as a German in Germany, the People of Israel can never be as properly Jewish if they are not in the Land of Israel. The relics in that land speak to a Jewish sensibility and character. There are also religious reasons as expounded by Rav Avraham Kook which posit that the development of a Jewish State in Israel hastens the arrival of the Messiah. There are additional political reasons why Palestine and not Europe. As explained above, the European Culture is strongly anti-Other and making a Jewish State there would have fostered much more contempt and alienation (ironically).

Answer 3

Israel was immediately attacked by seven Arab armies, despite its call for peace.See also:

Is Israel protected by God?

To whom does Israel belong?

Answer 4

Yes. Israel declared itself an independent state on May 14, 1948.

Answer 5

Israel is a country. It is called the "State of Israel" in the sense of it being a nation-state, not a state in a federal union (as the term is used in the United States).