Social and Political Mobilization for the Coming 1948 Independence War Begins

In a benchmark speech to Yishuv leaders in Jerusalem, David Ben-Gurion, chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive, urges total mobilization of the Jewish economy and manpower for the struggle for independence ahead. Without the force of law behind the requests for sacrifice to the cause, the Jewish community voluntarily organizes defense needs, food supply, fuel, currency, education, communication, and health requirements to insure Jewish self-determination. By comparison, the Palestinian Arab community is splintered, dysfunctional, and fragmented; that calculus leaves the Zionists an insurmountable advantage in state-making.