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many survivors of the Holocaust left Europe for Palestine, where
they hoped to build a Jewish state. Violence between Jews and
Arabs began to escalate.
In 1947 the United Nations, an international organization that
replaced the failed League of Nations, proposed dividing Palestine
into Arab and Jewish states, with Jerusalem, a city regarded as
holy by Jews, Muslims, and Christians, to be open to everyone
under the auspices of the U.N. Great Britain, which still ruled the
area under its League of Nations mandate, did not agree with this
decision and announced its intention to withdraw from Palestine in
May 1948. The Palestinian Arabs also voiced their opposition to the
U.N. partition plan, and with other Arab countries they made plans
to destroy the Jewish settlers once the British pulled out.
Israel declared its independence on May 15, 1948, the day after
the British left Palestine. The United States and the U.S.S.R. quick-
ly recognized Israel as an independent state. But Arab armies from
Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq immediately attacked Israel. Iraq
provided the largest force—some 15,000 well-trained soldiers. The
Arabs expected a quick victory. However, to their surprise—and to
the surprise of the world—the determined Israelis outfought the
Arabs and expanded their territory before a cease-fire ended the
conflict in early 1949.
The new Jewish state soon had a large influx of immigrants.
Jewish communities had existed in Arab lands for hundreds of years,
but many Jews—aware now of a growing hostility toward them in the
Arab world—chose to move to Israel. In 1947 an estimated 117,000
Jews had lived in Iraq; many of their ancestors had been brought to
Babylon as captives after the conquest of Jerusalem around 597
BCE
.
By 1952 Jews living in Iraq numbered fewer than 5,000.
The 1950s also saw oil become an even more important part of
Iraq’s economy. By 1952 most of the money brought into Iraq came
from the production of oil. As a result, huge amounts of money were
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