In 1947 and 1948, in advance of Israel declaring its independence, Israel found itself at a disadvantage militarily and demographically to its Arab neighbors. With only about 600,000 Jews residing in Mandatory Palestine, living under British rule since the early 1920s, the Jews were threatened by Arabs who had lived in Palestine for generations. Many more Arabs had entered Palestine from North Africa or Arabia to gain employment generated by Jewish development in the first half of the 20th century. There were also small minorities of Druze, Circassians, and Samaritans scattered within Palestine. Urban centers like Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, and Hebron had mixed populations of Jews and Arabs, while most rural areas were predominantly Arab Muslim. See NOTE 1.

The Arab nations surrounding the Jewish settlements had armies, for example, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. Even more so, the British-officered Arab Legion of Jordan threatened the nascent Jewish state. The United States and the United Nations imposed blanket bans on selling any weapons or military-grade equipment to the Jews. Despite this, individuals like Al Schwimmer and organizations such as the Jewish Agency’s U.S. arms smuggling network clandestinely procured and transported weapons to support the Yishuv (pre-state Israel). See NOTE 2/

So, restricting arms sales to Israel is nothing new. In recent years, several countries have imposed restrictions or suspensions on arms sales to Israel, including the United Kingdom, which suspended 30 out........

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