Conclusion

Since the 1948 War ended in defeat for the Palestinian Arabs and victory for the Israelis, it has been the subject of numerous interpretations. The different names used for the war by the fighting parties reflected the presence of narratives that presented the course and character of the war from contradictory perspectives. One of the focuses of the academic and public discussion of the war since its conclusion has been the clarification of the factors that led to the Israeli military victory and to the consolidation of Israeli national sovereignty, on the one hand, and to the Arab defeat, ending in the Palestinian exile and the destabilization of the Arab regimes, on the other. In Israeli discourse, this military success was explained over the years as the result of the nature of the conflict as a just war for national survival. In this context, the 1948 War was perceived as a heroic struggle by the few against the many. The Arab and Palestinian side, conversely, tended to explain military defeat as the result of the failure of the leadership of the Arab monarchies, which abandoned Palestine to its fate. Britain was also accused of political treachery. These political positions had a clear influence on the Israeli and Arab historiography of the 1948 War. ¹