Evaluate the factors that led to the creation of the State of Israel.

Candidates may choose to consider both long- and medium-term factors as well as those arising in the post-Second World War period. Others may concentrate on the years 1945 to 1948. Reasons for Israeli victory in the 1948/1949 conflict are not relevant here.

Indicative content

• Long-term factors could include the growth of Zionism in the 19th century and/or the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which seemed to encourage increased Jewish immigration to Palestine after the First World War with the promise of a homeland for Jewish people.
• Medium-term factors could include the increasing violence between Jews and Arabs in the 1920s and 1930s, which led to the consideration of the partition of Palestine and thus raised the notion of a separate Jewish state. Candidates may discuss the various White Papers, although by 1939 Britain appeared to be against partition.
• Short-term factors could include Jewish determination to establish a Jewish state after events in Europe before and during the Second World War; an aim for which there was significant international sympathy. Truman, for example, announced his support for the Biltmore Program.
• Violence between Jews and Arabs in the post-war years meant that some sort of partition was almost inevitable. The attack on the King David Hotel and international criticism after events such as the Exodus affair influenced Britain’s decision to withdraw from the Mandate, which meant that an alternative state structure had to be established by 1948. The UN Resolution of November 1947 supported the establishment of a separate Jewish state.

The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.

Examiners are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to do so.

[20 marks]