Editor says, what price a present-day Kingdom of David? We have taken the liberty of assuming a series of pre-conditions that eliminate Great Power influence from the War of Independence. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the March 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.

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Editor says, in reality these Forces continued north to al-Arish, which Allon planned to capture, in order to encircle the Egyptian expeditionary force in Palestine and end the war. However, due to political and diplomatic considerations, all Israeli forces retreated from the Sinai on January 2, 1949. Another attempt to encircle the Egyptian forces was made on the next day in the Battle of Rafah, but Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion ordered the IDF to turn back, ending military engagements in the war. On 25 October 1949, while he was out of the country, Yigal Allon was replaced as OC Southern Command by Moshe Dayan. Most of his Staff Officers resigned in protest. He retired from active service in 1950.

Richard Roper commented on 2012-03-28 00:00:00 ~ There were huge political considerations in the establishment of the state of Israel. Ben Gurion's American backers would not have allowed an advance to the Suez Canal - needing not to cause a reaction by Britain and France, as well as having plans to make the Arabs clients. They would allow moves to take over Jerusalem and the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Agreed sir I think the context is a different WW2 ending where Britain and USSR defeated, US and Germany still fighting (but exhausted), Egypt a German ally. Thats my thinking..? If so the US. would have to arrange a Jewish revolt earlier than 1949 as there would be no British in Palestine till 1948. Also HITLER WILL HAVE THE BOMB.

Chris Oakley commented on 2012-03-28 14:26:21 ~ This could have created all kinds of headaches for Nasser....

Robbie Taylor commented on 2012-03-28 23:53:08 ~ And the Kingdom of David begins...

Eric Lipps commented on 2012-03-28 23:56:39 ~ And the S hits the F. Like Richard Roper, I don't think the U.S. would have allowed Israel to seize the Canal. As for the "Kingdom of David," the mere hint that Israel's leaders were heading in that direction would have alienated millions of Diaspora Jews even as it excited fundamentalist Christians eager for Armageddon.

Stan Brin commented on 2012-03-29 08:19:13 ~ This is my area of expertise (I have interviewed both Allon and Ben Gurion, as well as Dayan's daughter, a famous novelist in her own right). Allon's aim in 1948 was to cut off the Egyptian army, a strategy followed earlier at Beersheva (which isolated the Egyptian artillery and infantry units trying to capture Jerusalem from the south) and at Faluja (an Egyptian brigade was surrounded and besieged). Allon had no interest in occupying the Sinai. He saw it only as a battlefield. The occupation of the Sinai in 56 and 67 were the result Nasserite threats and violence. Richard Roper is incorrect when he refers to "Ben Gurion's American backers" -- the Truman administration simply recognized Israel de facto when the mandate expired. To Robbie Taylor, both Allon and Ben Gurion were social democrats, although in truth Allon was further to the left. They weren't interested in a kingdom, or an empire. Ben Gurion would have wanted East Jerusalem, which the British and the Jordanians had cut off during the siege. Allon would have been happy to retain a narrow cordon sanitaire along the lower Jordan River as a buffer against invasion, and both would have wanted the Sinai neutralized.

Eric Oppen commented on 2012-12-25 21:36:06 ~ I think the UK would have had a good few things to say...IIRC they still owned/operated the Canal at that time, and while they'd been badly weakened by WWII, they would have been able to throw the Israelis back. There was no love lost between the UK and Israel; a lot of Britishers saw the Israelis as ungrateful while the Israelis saw the British as colonial occupiers.

Mike McIlvain commented on 2012-12-26 10:38:26 ~ Would have been a good bargaining chip, or a lightning rod for more violence -- or both!?

Mark Taylor commented on 2012-12-26 12:27:30 ~ With hindsight,would have been a god thing..