I think that the UN partition of Palestine and the subsequent establishment of the state of Israel in 1948n was the greatest turning point in the Arab-Israeli conflict to a large extent. One of the main reasons was because of the withdrawal of Britain.

The British mandate had been in effect for almost 30 years after it was passed in 1919 and the period saw very little development of Palestine. They had constantly placed restrictions on Jewish immigration but also upset the Arab community with a perceived pro-Zionist stance after allocating the Jews most of the Palestinian territory in the mandate’s recommendations. However this was a major turning point as both communities were now free from foreign rule which proved a catalyst for conflict between the two. The Arabs could pursue the independence that had been falsely promised to them in 1915 by the British just before the defeat of the Ottoman Empire meanwhile the Jews could pursue the independence they perceived was promised to them by the Belfour declaration of 1917. Numerous terrorist attacks had been carried out by the aggressive Irgun group like the bombing of the king David hotel in Jerusalem, killing 88 people. The fact that it was planned in their own Holy city and at the expense of 15 Jewish lives clearly demonstrated the extent of their unrest and their intentions of escalating conflict not just with the Arabs, whom they framed during the bombing, but also directly with the British, showing no fear in the face of a world superpower and their empire which started to crumble. It was therefore a great victory when Britain withdrew and contributed towards a growing sense of strength and unity.

This in itself is another reason for why the partition of Palestine was a major turning point because the civil war that ensued as a result demonstrated the new found power of the Jews, unity. The UN general assembly accepted the UN special committee on Palestine’s recommendations of dividing Palestine both Arab and Jewish state based areas that were either predominately Jewish or Arab. However this created ‘kissing points’ where both communities would neighbour their enemies whilst the holy city of Jerusalem would be governed internationally. Both of these are reasons why the partition would inevitably lead to further conflict as both sides wanted more territory and control of the capital. Irgun leader Begin announced ‘it will never be recognised’ and Israeli leader Ben-Gurion pointed out that Jerusalem was within Israel’s borders and was therefore unfair. The Arab high committee rejected the plan more firmly, not wanting to give up any more landing and believing the Jews should have a home elsewhere. It seemed that regardless of Britain’s involvement, conflict was always the outcome, and the partition would not change anything, suggesting that the formation of Israel wasn’t a significant turning point.

However, after the civil war, Israel surprisingly emerged as the victors which lead to a new age of peace in Palestine, showing that it was a major turning point. The Jews were underestimated by the Arabs and their allies. Egyptians invaded from the south with Syrians, Iraqis and Lebanese from the north. However the Jews were well organised and well lead by united leaders, something the Arabs lacked significantly.  They successfully defended the north and south territory and even took over west Jerusalem; only the Arab’s strong Arab legion of approximately 10,000 soldiers lead by King Abdullah halted them. During the first ceasefire in June 1948, the Israelis secured new supplies of arms from Eastern Europe and recruited more soldiers, amounting to 65000 by July. Many of their soldiers were also experienced World War 2 veterans, meaning they had the experience, the equipment, the numbers and the leadership to successfully defend themselves and win the war, The final ceasefire in January 1949 saw Israelis take 79% of territory compared to the 55% under the British mandate. It sent a clear message to the Arabs who were suffering the ‘Nakbah’ meaning ‘disaster’ after the fleeing of 700,000 Arabs from Palestine which emphasised Israel were a strong united force to be reckoned with. Under UN supervision, Israel and neighbouring Arab states signed an armistice leading to an era of elusive peace between the two up until the next major war in 1973.

It could be argued that the extent of the partition’s role as a turning point wasn’t as great as it seems due to the fact that no permanent peace treaty was signed and relations were still frosty between the two communities, meaning that conflict was still a possibility. Some Arab states refused to negotiate borders whilst the Arab league claimed Israel were to blame for the refugees and deserved compensation. Israel argued that it was Arab’s issue as they started the war and needed to accept the consequences themselves. Tensions also remained high despite the armistice as the Arab populations were immensely bitter and resentful following their loss whilst Israel were not keen on negotiating further to cement peace in the fear that they would lose land and take some responsibility for Arab refugees as a result. Therefore as this proves that peace in Palestine would only be temporary due to the underlying tensions that remained and the ignorance towards more negotiation, I can only agree to a large, rather than a full extent that it was the greatest turning point in the Arab-Israeli conflict.