ABSTRACT
Among the watershed developments of Middle Eastern history, the creation of the state of Israel and the ensuing Arab–Israeli conflict of 1948 had an impact on the region and its relations with the rest of the world that has continued ever since. The British elections of 1945 unexpectedly brought the Labour Party led by Clement Atlee to power. Among its policy priorities were decolonization and refashioning the British Empire into a “commonwealth of nations.” The British government, for its part, used the resolution to establish two policies at a December 4 cabinet meeting that would define how it would govern as the Mandate came to an end. The British also began in January to allow foreign Arab forces to enter Palestinian territory. The prelude to the actual Israeli Declaration of Independence, which took place on the day before the formal end of the British mandate, was marked by complex behind-the-scenes maneuvers in preparation for the anticipated conflict.
