The Holocaust and the Birth of Israel: No Connection

For decades the emergence of the Jewish State has been associated with the unprecedented horrors of the Holocaust. The conventional wisdom is that without the Holocaust the Two State Partition declared by the UN on November 29, 1947 would had never been proclaimed. The notion that the Holocaust was the impetus for the State of Israel is a great political war crime and an outrageous miscarriage of justice against the incomparable selfless sacrifices performed by three generations (70 years) of Jewish teenage pioneers and later young adults to reclaim their ancestral homeland.To understand how little a part the Holocaust really played in the political emergence of the State of Israel during the two years following the Holocaust, one needs to focus on the realities of those two years against the backdrop of nearly 70 years of the Zionist movement.

The question arises why the UN chose to declare a Jewish State on Arab Land. In other words why did the UN, just one day out of the blue, decide to turn Palestine into two states?

The answer is simple and to the point. The UN did not randomly choose Palestine to be partitioned on November 29, 1947 as a means to make amends to the Jewish People, comfort the Jewish Holocaust survivors, and secure the Jewish Future.

Rather, after 70 years of Zionist reclamation, state building, immigration, political activity, as well as Britain’s economic collapse following WWII, which led to the beginning of the demise of its vast global empire, starting with its release of Jordan in 1946, India in August of 1947 and Palestine in November of 1947, the UN had no choice but to  come to terms with the new reality on the ground.

Furthermore, since the end of the WWI, in 1917, Britain had 30 years to create two states, Arab and Jewish, and then evacuate the area. Something it could have done several times over but chose not to since the Land of Israel – Palestine ( as it was renamed by Emperor Hadrian nearly 1,800 nearly earlier to erase any connection of the Jewish People to the Jewish Land), is the crossroads of the world, linking Africa, Europe and Asia.

Britain had always found ways to delay both Arab and Jewish statehood in order to hold onto the area. But by 1946 Britain could not do so any longer.As for the Holocaust refugee problem, by 1945 the Land of Israel  had 500,000 Jewish inhabitants juxtaposed to the Arab population of 1.2 million.

Within the next two years 100,000 Holocaust refugees had either immigrated or were clandestinely crossed through British patrol via the Jewish underground commando force, the Palmach.

To say that the UN created a state for 100,000 refugees at the cost (the expense) of 1.2 million Arabs, is both foolish and absurd when the ships of refugees could have easily been transported to other countries. (Refugees that were refused entry by Britain were deported to Cyprus.) In fact, following Statehood, only another 370,000 Holocaust refugees immigrated to the Jewish State. Which again confirms that the small  number of refugees did not factor into the UN decision.

As for the Holocaust argument which states that the UN granted Arab Land out of guilt over the 6 Million murdered Souls,   the events of November 27, 1947 tell us another truth that has been forgotten.

Moshe Sharret, the then Foreign Minister of the  provincial Yishuv Jewish government had counted the votes for partition and realized that the anticipated vote of that day would lead to a non-acceptance of two state solution by the UN. It was then that  he filibustered the UN floor knowing that the following day would be Thanksgiving, which meant another two days to  maneuver behind the scenes to gain the necessary votes. And that is what happened. Iberia, the Philippines, and France were made to realize by top American businessmen and congressmen that it was in their best financial interest to support the two state vote, especially because of the economic hardships WWII had just brought upon them. The nations of the world did not change their vote because of the 6 million Jewish lives lost, but rather because of the millions of dollars promised.

But still, five months later the US State Department reneged on the vote and went to Trusteeship. Again, proving that the Holocaust was not a factor in the creation of the state. Had the Holocaust been a factor the US would have militarily committed itself to ensuring the secure and safe birth of Israel once the Arabs had attacked, as they – the Arabs – promised to do.

And lastly, when the 7 Arab armies, including the Arabs of Palestine did attack, not one nation of the UN came to the Jewish State’s defense.

Had the Holocaust been a true motivating factor for the UN vote, knowing full well that 6 million Jewish souls had perished only two and half years earlier, that the Jewish people had not proven their military prowess in nearly 2000 years and that another Holocaust, this time of Palestinian Jews was on the horizon, then the UN would not have sat on the sidelines and watched genocidal war unfold before their very eyes.

The truth of the matter is that no one thought that the Divine miracles would be wrought upon the Jews and that the Jews would prove themselves as brave, valiant and great warriors.

Clearly it obvious that the Holocaust had nothing to do with the vote of 1947 and the aftermath of 1948.

The Holocaust argument only became an issue because the Jews won and survived the War of Independence. Blessed be G-d!