How much do you know about Israel’s war of independence?
1) What event was the proximate cause of the outbreak of the war?
A) The Balfour Declaration of 1917.
B) The U.N. vote of November 29, 1947 on the partition of Palestine.
C) The end of the British Mandate for Palestine on May 15, 1948.
D) The sinking of the Altalena on June 22, 1948.
E) The assassination of Folke Bernadotte on September 17, 1948.
2) Israel declared its independence immediately following what event?
A) The Balfour Declaration of 1917.
B) The U.N. vote of November 29, 1947 on the partition of Palestine.
C) The end of the British Mandate for Palestine on May 15, 1948.
D) The sinking of the Altalena on June 22, 1948.
E) The assassination of Folke Bernadotte on September 17, 1948.
3) At the outset of the war, the leader of the Jews in Palestine was:
A) Golda Meir.
B) David Ben-Gurion.
C) Menachem Begin.
D) Yigael Yadin.
E) Moshe Sharett.
4) At the outset of the war, the leader of the Arabs in Palestine was:
A) Raghib Nashashibi.
B) Hasan Salama.
C) Abd al-Qadir al-Husseini.
D) Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, a.k.a. “The Grand Mufti”.
E) Tawfiq Ibrahim, a.k.a. “Abu Ibrahim the Younger”.
5) At the outset of the war, Menachem Begin was the commander of what Jewish military organization?
A) The Etzel, a.k.a. the “Irgun”.
B) The Lehi, a.k.a. the “Stern Gang”.
C) The Palmach.
D) The Haganah.
E) The Israel Defense Forces.
6) What was the largest of the Palestinian Arab armed groups?
A) The Arab Legion.
B) The Arab League.
C) The Arab Higher Committee.
D) The Arab Liberation Army.
E) The Army of the Holy Jihad.
7) Prior to hostilities, which Arab leader offered the Jews an autonomous republic if his country annexed Palestine?
A) King Abdullah of Jordan.
B) King Farouk of Egypt.
C) King Faisal II of Iraq.
D) Shukri al-Quwatli, president of Syria.
E) None of the above.
8) What was the “White Paper”?
A) A nickname for the Balfour Declaration.
B) A nickname for Israel ’s declaration of independence.
C) An offer of surrender made by Arabs trapped in the “Faluja Pocket”.
D) The British policy of restricting Jewish immigration to Palestine.
E) An Egyptian code book that allowed Israel to decipher Egyptian military communications.
9) Which wartime Arab leader accepted the U.N. partition vote of 1947?
A) King Abdullah of Jordan.
B) King Farouk of Egypt.
C) King Faisal II of Iraq.
D) Shukri al-Quwatli, president of Syria.
E) None of the above.
10) During the first months of the war, what was the major focus of fighting between Jews and Arabs?
A) Control of government buildings.
B) Control of the holy places.
C) Control of border crossing points.
D) Control of prime agricultural lands.
E) Control of roads linking Jewish settlements.
11) During the first six months of the war, while the British Mandate was still in effect, what was British policy regarding police forts and other strategic assets?
A) They turned them all over to the Jews.
B) They turned them all over to the Arabs.
C) They turned each one over to whatever side’s population was the majority in the immediate area.
D) They stubbornly maintained control of all of them until May 15, 1948, the last day of the mandate.
E) There was no clear policy.
12) Despite the U.N. arms embargo, which European country sold large quantities of arms to the Jews?
A) Britain.
B) France.
C) Germany.
D) Czechoslovakia.
E) Russia.
13) What were relations like between the Arab countries and the Arab leadership in Palestine?
A) Arab countries involved the Palestinian Arabs in war planning and supplied them with money and arms.
B) Arab countries cut the Palestinian Arabs out of decision making and gave them no direct assistance.
C) Arab countries involved the Palestinian Arabs in war planning, but gave them no direct assistance.
D) Some Arab countries supplied the Palestinian Arabs with money and arms, some countries didn’t.
E) Arab countries supplied some Palestinian Arabs with money and arms, but not Palestinian factions loyal to the Husseini family.
14) The first Jewish offensive of the war was:
A) Operation Yoav, to cut through Egyptian lines in the northern Negev.
B) Operation Uvda, to extend control of the Negev south to the Red Sea.
C) Operation Danny, to capture Ramla and Lod.
D) Operation Hiram, to capture the Upper Galilee.
E) Operation Nachshon, to control the main road to Jerusalem and capture the villages threatening it.
15) Reports of the killing of civilians in which Arab village prompted many Arabs throughout the country to flee?
A) Nazareth.
B) Hebron.
C) Abu Ghosh.
D) Khirbet Khisas.
E) Deir Yassin.
16) In the final days before the end of the Mandate on May 15, 1948, Jewish war objectives shifted to:
A) Control of government buildings.
B) Control of the holy places.
C) Control of border crossing points.
D) Control of prime agricultural lands.
E) Control of roads linking Jewish settlements.
17) What did invading Arab countries ultimately plan to do in Palestine?
A) Divide Palestine up amongst themselves, each country annexing what it had conquered.
B) Create a new Arab country to be called “Palestine.”
C) Turn Palestine over to the U.N. for a new vote.
D) Place Palestine under international control.
E) There was no plan.
18) Which invading Arab army was commanded by British officers?
A) The Egyptian Army.
B) The Syrian Army.
C) The Lebanese Army.
D) The Iraqi Army.
E) The Arab Legion.
19) What fortress controlling the main the road to Jerusalem did Israel repeatedly try and fail to take?
A) Qastal.
B) Beit Guvrin.
C) Latrun.
D) Iraq Sweidan.
E) Majdal Yaba.
20) Which Jewish settlement successfully defended itself and was not destroyed and depopulated by invading Arab armies in May-June 1948?
A) Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, against the Egyptian Army.
B) Kibbutz Gesher, against the Iraqi Army.
C) Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek, against the Arab Liberation Army.
D) Moshava Mishmar HaYarden, against the Syrian Army.
E) Etzion settlement bloc, against the Arab Legion.
21) In the Egyptian Army’s advance up the Mediterranean Coast towards Tel-Aviv, at the environs of which coastal town were they finally stopped?
A) Jaffa.
B) Isdud (Ashdod).
C) Majdal (Ashkelon).
D) Gaza.
E) El-Arish.
22) Of the Arab armies at war with Israel in 1948, which one did not actually invade?
A) The Egyptian Army.
B) The Syrian Army.
C) The Lebanese Army.
D) The Iraqi Army.
E) The Arab Legion.
23) What West bank town did Jewish forces make the most concentrated effort to capture?
A) Jenin.
B) Shechem (Nablus).
C) Ramallah.
D) Bethlehem.
E) Hebron.
24) Referring to the previous question: What Arab army successfully defended it?
A) The Egyptian Army.
B) The Syrian Army.
C) The Lebanese Army.
D) The Iraqi Army.
E) The Arab Legion.
25) What where the “Ten Days”?
A) The countdown to the U.N. vote of November 29, 1947 on the partition of Palestine.
B) The countdown to the end of the British Mandate for Palestine on May 15, 1948.
C) The countdown to the end of the first truce that began on June 11, 1948.
D) The battles fought between the first and second truces July 8-18, 1948.
E) The countdown to the end of the second truce that began on July 18, 1948.
26) What event marked the unification of Jewish military command?
A) The Balfour Declaration of 1917.
B) The U.N. vote of November 29, 1947 on the partition of Palestine.
C) The end of the British Mandate for Palestine on May 15, 1948.
D) The sinking of the Altalena on June 22, 1948.
E) The assassination of Folke Bernadotte on September 17, 1948.
27) During the war, what was the largest contiguous area inhabited by Jews that was encircled by Arab forces?
A) Kibbutz Yehiam.
B) Mount Scopus
C) West Jerusalem.
D) The Etzion bloc.
E) The entire Negev south of the Majdal-Hebron line.
28) The “Faluja Pocket” was an Israeli encirclement of Arab forces belonging to which army?
A) The Egyptian Army.
B) The Syrian Army.
C) The Lebanese Army.
D) The Iraqi Army.
E) The Arab Legion.
29) The very last offensive of the war was:
A) Operation Yoav, to cut through Egyptian lines in the northern Negev.
B) Operation Uvda, to extend control of the Negev south to the Red Sea.
C) Operation Danny, to capture Ramla and Lod.
D) Operation Hiram, to capture the Upper Galilee.
E) Operation Nachshon, to control the main road to Jerusalem and capture the villages threatening it.
30) Approximately how many Jews were killed in the war?
A) 600
B) 6,000
C) 60,000
D) 600,000
E) 6,000,000
31) Approximately how many Arabs became refugees as a result of the war?
A) 700
B) 7,000
C) 70,000
D) 700,000
E) 7,000,000
Results