Arab claims of a "master plan" for pushing the Jews into the sea are contradicted by their leaders pursuing their own nationalistic aims. The Egyptians strike in two armored columns up the coast to Tel Aviv and inland to Jerusalem. Shocked by the level of resistance, the coastal arm bypasses tougher kibbutzim and overextends its supply lines. Weeks of artillery and aerial bombardment fail to conquer the strategic Negba kibbutz, and its stand becomes a Masada-like symbol. The second arm is halted at Ramat Rahel and driven back to Bethlehem. When the British evacuate Jerusalem, Haganah fights street-to-street to occupy abandoned strongholds and to capture the Arab suburbs separating Mount Scopus from the Old City. Politics keep them from taking the Old City proper, but they trust the Arabs not to.....
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