67 years ago, upon Israel’s declaration of independence, Life Magazine noted (May 31, 1948, pp. 21-28) the odds facing the 600,000 Jews of the newly-born economy-starved and militarily-embargoed Jewish State: “King Abdullah of Trans-Jordan sent his Arab Legion against Jerusalem…. Egypt’s planes repeatedly bombed Tel Aviv. Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia pitched in…. The Arabs cut off Jerusalem from the coast by blocking the road to Tel Aviv…. The old walled city came under artillery fire…. A three-pronged attack was compressing the [Jewish] defenders into the Jewish Quarter of the Old City…. While King Abdullah’s Arab legion was spearheading the Arabs’ land offensive…. The Jews had little but light anti-aircraft to fight off these attacks…. A country the size of Connecticut is ringed by hostile neighbors…. Time and geography favor the Arabs, and England, which does not recognize Israel, is sending the Arab states arms, [while] Israel’s friends in the US aim to lift our embargo on arms…. Can Israel survive?”
