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Entry: Rethinking 1948 Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/rethinking_1948#28265 Post contents: Martin van Creveld is on of the best military thinkers. Period. He is also an analyst whose views on Israeli and American policies are based on Realpolitik considerations -- as opposed to romantic nationalism or left-wing idealism -- and in that sense it's a conservative perspective. His support for Israeli withdrawal from the occuppied territories to the 1967 lines is based on a reading by a realist of Israel's current predicaments -- demography, security, diplomatic. he has been critical of the Iraq War by considering U.S. strategic interests, the balance of power in the Middle East, etc. I agree with most of the comments that Ploni Almoni made. I do want to respond to something that San Fernando Curt had written: Without the support of those established powers - Britain and especially the U.S. - the fledgling state truly would have been pushed into the sea by the first week of June 1948, regardless of the irresistable uniqueness of its dynamism and determination. In fact, it was the Soviet Union and its allies that provided the new Israel with critical diplomatic and military support. It immediately recognized Israel while the American hesitated and certainly refrained from providing the Israelis with any military assistance in that period. Britain opposed the creation of Israel and povided support to the Arab states during 1947-48. Sent at: 2008 12 03