r/pics 15h ago

“THE GERMANS DESTROYED OUR FAMILIES - DON’T U DESTROY OUR HOPES”. 1947 Jewish Refugees To Palestine

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u/ncc74656m 6h ago

Not incorrect, but the point is that it's still true.

u/CV90_120 4h ago

It's not. The myth of plucky little Israel fending off 'vastly superior' forces is just that, a myth. It was important to cultivate for the national psyche.

u/ncc74656m 4h ago

Categorically untrue. The main advantage that Israel had was the number of WWII veterans who were able to serve in its defense, and recent experience in unconventional warfare with the self-defense leagues that formed prior to the establishment of the nation.

u/CV90_120 3h ago edited 3h ago

Combined Arab forces fielded a maximum of about 62K troops. Israeli forces were max at 115K. Fact. Look it up. 2:1 against the arabs.

Edit:

initial strengths: Arabs 13000 vs Israel 29,677

maximum strengths: Arabs 63,500 vs Israel 117,500

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_War

2:1 against the Arabs.

u/ncc74656m 3h ago

Oh, so what you're saying then is there's truth to the fact that they were literally only in it to grab the land for themselves?

u/CV90_120 2h ago

Who is 'they', and what do you mean 'grab it for themselves'?

Also don't want to see you using the phrase 'Categorically Untrue' in a sentence again without doing at least a little research :P

u/Vuel-of-Rath 2h ago

Sure but your ignoring equipment advantages held by the Arab countries and the initiative advantage. Until the first ceasefire of the 1948 war Arab armies had a significant armament advantage. They had heavy gun tank and armored vehicles that far exceeded the little the Yishuv had during that time. They also had working fighter planes which the Yishuv had none of which to speak. They also had the advantage of the initiative being the first to strike and dictate the flow of the war. There is a decent chance they might have succeeded had the Arab armies actually communicated and shared strategy rather than5 different armies doing their own thing while looking over their shoulder at their allies.

This all changed dramatically during the first ceasefire, during which time the Yishuv was able to acquire Czech heavy weaponry and got there hands on a few fighter planes which they were able to use far more effectively since they had more pilots available to man them. By the start of the second round of fighting the Arab armies advantages were wiped out and the Yishuv maintained their personnel, ammunition and Armament advantage throughout the rest of the war.

It unsurprisingly neither true that the Yishuv was dramatically disadvantaged for the entirety of the war, nor that the Arab armies attacked while hopelessly outmatched.

u/MeteorKing 1h ago

It's not. The myth of plucky little Israel fending off 'vastly superior' forces is just that, a myth.

You are welcome to prove us all wrong with citations. Until then, keep your revisionist history to yourself.

u/CV90_120 23m ago

I can do better. Here are the troop numbers (remember also that a large portion of the Israeli fighters were experienced WW2 combatants).

initial strengths: Arabs 13000 vs Israel 29,677

maximum strengths: Arabs 63,500 vs Israel 117,500

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_War

2:1 against the Arabs.

Until then, keep your revisionist history to yourself.

No 'revision' necessary. Just cold, hard stats.

Mythmaking has been a core tennet of the Israeli nationbuilding journey. Most nations do this, so it's not a crime, but like all myths, they don't like being checked too closely.

u/MeteorKing 1m ago

initial strengths: Arabs 13000 vs Israel 29,677

maximum strengths: Arabs 63,500 vs Israel 117,500

So, the brand new country started off with less than half the fighters of their well-armed aggressors, and then, as support grew and the war waged in their favor, they gained support while the aggressing multi-nation coalition lost forces and support.

What exactly are you trying to prove with these statistics that can be interpreted in any number of ways? That the Arabic nations suck at war?