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Acorn has hit the nail on the head:
The 1948 War was one of the few instances when Israel faced almost equal forces on the other side: 35 to 45 thousand Israeli soldiers faced 42 to 54 thousand in the combined Arab armies. In my opinion the Israeli advantage lay in a couple of factors that will undoubtedly resonate with soldiers on this board:
1. Available for service were the trained Jewish Palestine veterans of the British Army's Jewish Brigade Group which had seen action in Italy and Northwest Europe during the last year of WW2. Thus there was a cadre of well trained and disciplined troops representing all arms and services in a conventional military formation.
2. The Machal - the estimated 3,500 to 4,000 foreign volunteers, mainly veterans from allied armies in WW2,. For example, West Point graduate & former US Army staff officer Col. Mickey Marcus wrote the new army's training syllabus & SOPs. Cdn. Ben Dunkelman who won the DSO as a Queens Own Rifles of Canada company commander led the IDF's 7th Brigade which opened the road to Jerusalem - one of the wars pivotal campaignas. And as previously mentioned leading WW2 RCAF fighter ace Buzz Beurling died flying for the Israelis and is buried with full honours in Haifa.
These 2 groups comprised about 20% of Israeli forces and were the core around which a modern army was organized, equipped, trained and lead. With the exception of Jordan's Arab Legion the Arab opposition just did not have the same levels of experience and discipline that had been acquired during WW2.
If anyone is interested in more feel free to contact me - I can pass on some book titles from which I have drawn this information and conclusion.
One last thing. This whole discussion about "Why Arabs Lose Wars" is dangerously ethnocentric. Nothing PC about me saying that. Rather its an old principle - never underestimate the enemy. After the 67 victory Israel made the mistake of falling into that arrogant mindset, which is why they got caught with their pants down in 73 and almost lost. And that my friends is the real lesson.
The 1948 War was one of the few instances when Israel faced almost equal forces on the other side: 35 to 45 thousand Israeli soldiers faced 42 to 54 thousand in the combined Arab armies. In my opinion the Israeli advantage lay in a couple of factors that will undoubtedly resonate with soldiers on this board:
1. Available for service were the trained Jewish Palestine veterans of the British Army's Jewish Brigade Group which had seen action in Italy and Northwest Europe during the last year of WW2. Thus there was a cadre of well trained and disciplined troops representing all arms and services in a conventional military formation.
2. The Machal - the estimated 3,500 to 4,000 foreign volunteers, mainly veterans from allied armies in WW2,. For example, West Point graduate & former US Army staff officer Col. Mickey Marcus wrote the new army's training syllabus & SOPs. Cdn. Ben Dunkelman who won the DSO as a Queens Own Rifles of Canada company commander led the IDF's 7th Brigade which opened the road to Jerusalem - one of the wars pivotal campaignas. And as previously mentioned leading WW2 RCAF fighter ace Buzz Beurling died flying for the Israelis and is buried with full honours in Haifa.
These 2 groups comprised about 20% of Israeli forces and were the core around which a modern army was organized, equipped, trained and lead. With the exception of Jordan's Arab Legion the Arab opposition just did not have the same levels of experience and discipline that had been acquired during WW2.
If anyone is interested in more feel free to contact me - I can pass on some book titles from which I have drawn this information and conclusion.
One last thing. This whole discussion about "Why Arabs Lose Wars" is dangerously ethnocentric. Nothing PC about me saying that. Rather its an old principle - never underestimate the enemy. After the 67 victory Israel made the mistake of falling into that arrogant mindset, which is why they got caught with their pants down in 73 and almost lost. And that my friends is the real lesson.
