Another important factor that should be considered to support the view that the Arabs were ultimately responsible for their defeat, was that in comparison to the Israelis, the Arabs severly lacked the manpower and necessary weapons to allow for military success. This lack of effective equipment and manpower gave the Israelis a huge advantage in the war, and ultiamelly contributed to their success. By using Brooman, Op. Cit., p.12, we can see that it is clear that both Arab numbers and weaponry were inferior to those of the Israeli forces. He states that ‘the armies consisted of around 20,000 men’ in comparison to the 65,000 Israeli troops. He goes on to say that the Arabs ‘ lacked modern weapons’. This point was even more significant as the Israeli troops began building up their armaments and numbers whilst the Arab forces remained relatively stagnant in comparison. Additionally to this, their lack of initiative made it difficult to maintain modern weapons. It is stated in Militaryphotos.net that due to the fact that “complex modern weapons require on the spot maintenance” and this means “delegating authority, information, and tools”, the maintenance of weapons is difficult for Arabs as their armies “avoid doing this and prefer to use easier to control central repair shops”. The effect of this was that the Arab weapons were often faulty, lacked agility and needed to be repaired often. As aforementioned, the Israelis had access to modern weaponry from the West, plus they increased their numbers and armaments considerably throughout the war. Therefore in comparison, due to their inability to gain weapons, numbers and their lack of initiative to maintain modern weapons, the Arabs put themselves in a particularly bad position which contributed considerably to their defeat.
Overall there were many substantial factors suggesting that both the Israelis and the Arabs were responsible for the ‘Nakbar’ and Arab defeat in the first Arab-Israeli War of 1948-49. Despite the arguments put forth suggesting the Arabs held primary responsibility for their defeat, such as the divided aims and limited cooperation of the Arab League, plus their inferior army and weapons, the main reasons for their defeat were those of Israeli advantages; their superior military strength, training and growth plus the support they had from the Western states. In particular, without the support of the Western states, they would not have gained the financial and military advantages they had over the Arabs in the midst of war, but also due to the British depleting Arab armies during 1936-39, they were placed in a much stronger position before the War even began. This element, beyond all else, provides grounds for the conclusion that the Israelis were most responsible for the ‘Nakbar’ and Arab defeat in the first Arab-Israeli War of 1948-49.
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