Cooperation between the Galilee Bedouins and the Yishuv during the 1948 war

Abstract

ABSTRACTDuring Israel’s War for Independence, the Bedouin tribes did not have a united attitude: Some tribes, who built good relations with the Jewish population, supported the Jewish side and fought with them, whereas other Bedouins tribes considered themselves part of the Palestinian population and fought with them. There were also tribes that supported no side and kept neutral.This article focuses on the Galilee Bedouin tribes, who chose to cooperate with the Jewish Yishuv and fought on their side. The article explains the background on which the relations between the Bedouins and the Jews in Galilee were built at the end of the Ottoman era and during the British mandate. It also examines the mutual trust and friendship that had developed between the Jewish population and their neighbor Bedouin tribes, leading them to cooperate with the Jewish side and support their cause. It analyzes causal factors and historical events that led certain Bedouin tribes to fight against the Jews and support the Palestinian side, and the reasons tribes kept neutral in this conflict.