On May 14, 1948, the Jewish State of Israel was founded as a sovereign nation. The Declaration of Independence came in November 1947, after the formal recognition of the creation of a Jewish state by hundreds of countries around the globe. On the day following the declaration, the military coalition of six Arab states—Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia—invaded in what would be a 10-month war. The Arab militaries ordered Arab inhabitants out of Israel proper in order to create room for the annihilation of Jews.When the war ended, though, there was neither an expansion of Arab territory nor a sole Palestinian state. The Jewish armies and militias, most notably the Haganah, had come together to create the Israel Defense Forces and, against all odds, won the war (perhaps this miraculous victory can be explained by the fighters’ strong Jewish morale.) The IDF had one weapon for every three fighters and no heavy machine guns, artillery, military aircraft, or tanks. And yet, the Jewish spirit, characterized by defiance and survival against all odds, propelled the fighters to victory. Over the course of 1949, official armistices were signed with each of the Arab League powers. 6,000 Israelis, or about 1% of the population, had been killed in the 10 months of fighting; roughly one-third of that number were civilians, with a similar proportion of the dead being Holocaust survivors. Estimates for Arab casualties vary from approximately 7,000 to more than 13,000.In the wake of the war, the Jewish homeland was secure but in rubble. In the following decade, the population would double as Jews left Europe and the Arab world to find a new beginning in their ancient home. Israel would become a Jewish safe haven and escape the uncertainty of the Diaspora.