Operation Balak
The History of the Weapons Smuggling Operation That Helped Israel Win the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
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Narrated by:
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KC Wayman
About this listen
The conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is technically over 70 years old and counting but has its roots in over 2,000 years of history. With so much time and history, the Middle East peace process has become laden with unique, politically sensitive concepts like the right of return, contiguous borders, secure borders, demilitarized zones, and security requirements, with players like the Quartet, Palestinian Authority, Fatah, Hamas, the Arab League and Israel. Over time, it has become exceedingly difficult for even sophisticated political pundits and followers to keep track of it all.
In 1947, the British delegated the issue of partitioning the British Mandate to the United Nations, and the UN General Assembly set up the Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP). UNSCOP eventually came up with what is now known as the UN Partition Plan of 1947. The Partition Plan carved up two strange looking states, but their motive was to create an Israel in which the Jewish population was a 55 percent majority, while Palestine had an over 90 percent Palestinian Arab majority. Meanwhile, the city of Jerusalem would be administered internationally, due to the sensitive religious concerns of Muslims, Christians, and Jews. In addition to several Christian holy spots, Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam, and it is situated right next to the Western Wall, the Jews’ holiest remaining site.
The proposed plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency, which represented the leaders of the Jewish community in Palestine. However, it was rejected by Palestinian leaders in the Mandate, and it was also rejected by the newly formed Arab League, a confederation of Middle Eastern Arab states led by Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen. Although the partitioned state of Israel would have had a Jewish majority, the remainder of the British Mandate after the partition of Jordan had a population that was about 67 percent Palestinian, so they viewed the plan as being unfairly advantageous to the Jews.
On May 14, 1948, the British Mandate officially expired. That same day, the Jewish National Council issued the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel. About 10 minutes later, President Truman officially recognized the State of Israel, and the Soviet Union also quickly recognized Israel. However, the Palestinians and the Arab League did not recognize the new state, and the very next day, armies from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq invaded the former British Mandate to squelch Israel, while Saudi Arabia assisted the Arab armies. Jordan would also get involved in the war, fighting the Israelis around Jerusalem.
Less than two weeks after the creation of Israel, the state’s leader, David Ben-Gurion, announced the creation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). This represented the combined military forces that would protect the new state, and while it might have sounded impressive on paper, the reality was very different. The new army was comprised mainly of ex-members of several paramilitary organizations that had fought for the establishment of the new state, but they lacked heavy weapons, armor and air defenses. The Israeli navy and air force did not exist other than as largely notional organizations, and at the beginning of 1948, the Israeli Air Force did not possess a single combat aircraft of any type.
To many outsiders, the defeat of the nascent Jewish state seemed a certainty, yet in an unbelievably short space of time, and despite international embargoes on the export of arms to the region, Israel was able to procure sufficient arms to equip its armed forces and to successfully defend its territory in what became known as the War of Independence (also known as First Arab–Israeli War).
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Story
From the end of World War II until 1980, virtually no American soldiers were killed in action while serving in the Greater Middle East. Since 1990, virtually no American soldiers have been killed in action anywhere else. What caused this shift? Andrew J. Bacevich, one of the country's most respected voices on foreign affairs, offers an incisive critical history of this ongoing military enterprise - now more than 30 years old and with no end in sight.
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A Key to Understanding the US Need for Perp. War
- By Darwin8u on 05-01-16
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The Sorrows of Empire
- Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic
- By: Chalmers Johnson
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Recalling the classic warnings against militarism, from George Washington's farewell address to Dwight Eisenhower's denunciation of the military-industrial complex, Johnson explores the trend of militarism that is bankrupting the United States and creating conditions for a new century of virulent blowback.
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A must read.
- By Thomas on 02-07-15
By: Chalmers Johnson
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Spanish Civil War
- A History from Beginning to End
- By: Hourly History
- Narrated by: Stephen Paul Aulridge Jr
- Length: 1 hr and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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The Spanish Civil War was much more than just an overture to World War II. It was a war born out of schisms in Spanish society between rich and poor, monarchists and Republicans, the right and the left, and between those who supported the church and those who saw it as an instrument of oppression. For all its brutality and horror, the Spanish Civil War was a conflict between ideals often fought by volunteers on each side who truly believed that they were helping to build a better world.
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Only honest book I have found on the subject.
- By brendan f kelly on 05-18-21
By: Hourly History
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Lemay
- By: Barrett Tillman
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
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Packed with breathtaking air battles and ground tactics, this new addition to the Great Generals series features the controversial command and strategies of the former Air Force Chief of Staff. Curtis LeMay was a terrifying, complex, and brilliant general. In World War II, he ordered the firebombing of Tokyo and was in charge when atomic bombs were dropped on Japan.
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A Biased Look at A Great Air Force Leader
- By Bishop on 02-11-20
By: Barrett Tillman
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Pearl Harbor
- A Captivating Guide to the Surprise Military Strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service That Caused the United States of America’s Formal Entry into World War II
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jason Zenobia
- Length: 3 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The attack of the US Pearl Harbor Naval Base changed the entire progress of World War II, and as a result, it was a very formative event both for the United States and Japan. Though the two nations seemed unlikely enemies at the onset of the Second Great War, bloodshed between them would be greater than anyone could have imagined. The future of the world at large was changed on December 7, 1941, when the Empire of Japan chose to make a preemptive strike on its most feared Pacific neighbor, the United States of America.
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Don’t waste your credit
- By Amazon Customer on 05-17-20
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Firestorm
- Allied Airpower and the Destruction of Dresden
- By: Marshall De Bruhl
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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On February 13 and 14, 1945, three successive waves of British and U.S. aircraft rained down thousands of tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs on the largely undefended German city of Dresden. Night and day, Dresden was engulfed in a vast sea of flame, a firestorm that generated 1,500-degree temperatures and hurricane-force winds. Thousands suffocated in underground shelters where they had fled to escape the inferno above.
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slanted view of air attacks during war
- By Ed Yusis on 03-31-14
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Reclaiming Israel’s History
- Roots, Rights, and the Struggle for Peace
- By: David Brog
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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There was a time when Israel could do no wrong in America's eyes. That time is long past, and justly so - no nation is absolutely perfect, particularly not one that is engaged in a conflict as long as the Arab-Israeli conflict. But the myth of the perfect Israel has been supplanted by a far more deleterious myth: the myth of the evil Israel. This new myth has so pervaded contemporary culture that the history of Israel - as well documented as it is - has been recast and retold to fit a false narrative of Israel as violent occupier.
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Excellent summary of Israeli point if view
- By Mendy on 08-12-18
By: David Brog
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The Road to Dien Bien Phu
- A History of the First War for Vietnam
- By: Christopher Goscha
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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On May 7, 1954, when the bullets stopped and the air stilled in Dien Bien Phu, there was no doubt that Vietnam could fight a mighty colonial power and win. After nearly a decade of struggle, a nation forged in the crucible of war had achieved a victory undreamed of by any other national liberation movement. The Road to Dien Bien Phu tells the story of how Ho Chi Minh turned a ragtag guerrilla army into a modern fighting force capable of bringing down the formidable French army.
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Motley Crew History new, true...,
- By Anonymous User on 04-20-22
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Forgotten Ally
- China's World War II, 1937 - 1945
- By: Rana Mitter
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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For decades, a major piece of World War II history has gone virtually unwritten. The war began in China two full years before Hitler invaded Poland, and China eventually became the fourth great ally, partner to the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. Yet its drama of invasion, resistance, slaughter, and political intrigue remains little known in the West.
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Bland
- By Rodney on 01-23-14
By: Rana Mitter
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The ISIS Solution
- How Unconventional Thinking and Special Operations Can Eliminate Radical Islam
- By: Jack Murphy, Brandon Webb, Peter Nealen
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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The ISIS Solution takes a look at the current geopolitical situation, organizational structure of ISIS, and provides new thinking and strategies for dealing with the Islamic State in the Middle East. Its authors and contributors have over 50 years of combined experience in the intelligence, analyst, and Special Operations communities. Leadership and a new philosophical conversation of action is needed to eliminate violent terrorism. This book starts the conversation.
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Short, to the point, crammend full of information.
- By Joseph on 11-27-14
By: Jack Murphy, and others
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Black Ops
- The Rise of Special Forces in the C.I.A., The S.A.S., and Mossad
- By: Tony Geraghty
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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After eight challenging years in Afghanistan, the new U.S. strategy, aimed at winning hearts and minds rather than search-and-destroy, refocuses the conflict on Special Forces: unorthodox soldiers who work outside of traditional military forces to combine secret military operations with nation building.
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Painful narration
- By JWS on 12-18-20
By: Tony Geraghty
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Moral Combat
- Good and Evil in World War II
- By: Michael Burleigh
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 26 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In this sweepingly ambitious overview of World War II, Michael Burleigh combines meticulous scholarship with a remarkable depth of knowledge and an astonishing scope. By exploring the moral sentiments of entire societies and their leaders and how such attitudes changed under the impact of total war, Burleigh presents listeners with a fresh and powerful perspective on a conflict that continues to shape world politics.
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terror
- By Ed on 02-12-12
By: Michael Burleigh
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Hitler's Europe Ablaze
- Occupation, Resistance, and Rebellion during World War II
- By: Ben H. Shepherd - editor, Phillip Cooke - editor
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Local resistance to German-led Axis occupation occurred throughout the European continent during World War II, taking a wide range of forms - noncooperation and disinformation, sabotage and espionage, and armed opposition and full-scale partisan warfare. It is a key element in the experience and the national memory of those who found themselves under Axis government and control.
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Historically questionable.
- By Nestor Perez on 04-22-21
By: Ben H. Shepherd - editor, and others