Editing 1948 Arab–Israeli War (section)

===King Abdullah I of Transjordan===
King Abdullah was the commander of the [[Arab Legion]], the strongest Arab army involved in the war according to [[Eugene Rogan]] and [[Avi Shlaim]] in 2007.<ref>Rogan and Shlaim 2007 p. 110.</ref> (In contrast, Morris wrote in 2008 that the Egyptian army was the most powerful and threatening army.<ref>Morris, 2008, p. 310</ref>) The Arab Legion had about 10,000 soldiers, trained and commanded by British officers.
[[File:King Abdullah, Jerusalem, 29 May 1948.jpg|thumb|King Abdullah outside the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]], 29 May 1948, the day after Jordanian forces took control of the Old City in the [[Battle for Jerusalem]]]]

In 1946–47, Abdullah said that he had no intention to "resist or impede the partition of Palestine and creation of a [[Jewish state]]."<ref name="Sela">Sela, 2002, p. 14.</ref> Ideally, Abdullah would have liked to annex all of Palestine, but he was prepared to compromise.<ref name="Karsh2002p26">{{harvnb|Karsh|2002|p=26}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Karsh|2002|p=51}}</ref> He supported the partition, intending that the West Bank area of the British Mandate allocated for the Arab state be annexed to Jordan.<ref>Morris (2008), pp. 190–192</ref> Abdullah held secret meetings with the Jewish Agency (at which the future [[Israeli Prime Minister]] [[Golda Meir]] was among the delegates) that reached an agreement of Jewish non-interference with Jordanian annexation of the West Bank (although Abdullah failed in his goal of acquiring an outlet to the Mediterranean Sea through the Negev desert) and of Jordanian agreement not to attack the area of the Jewish state contained in the United Nations partition resolution (in which Jerusalem was given neither to the Arab nor the Jewish state, but was to be an internationally administered area). In order to keep their support to his plan of annexation of the Arab State, Abdullah promised to the British he would not attack the Jewish State.<ref>{{cite book|author=Avi Shlaim|title=The Politics of Partition: King Abdullah, the Zionists and Palestine 1921–1951|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1988|isbn=978-0-231-07365-3|url=https://archive.org/details/politicsofpartit00avis}}</ref>

The neighbouring Arab states pressured Abdullah into joining them in an "all-Arab military invasion" against the newly created State of Israel, that he used to restore his prestige in the Arab world, which had grown suspicious of his relatively good relationship with Western and Jewish leaders.<ref name="Sela" /> Jordan's undertakings not to cross partition lines were not taken at face value. While repeating assurances that Jordan would only take areas allocated to a future Arab state, on the eve of war [[Tawfik Abu al-Huda]] told the British that were other Arab armies to advance against Israel, Jordan would follow suit.<ref>Tal,''War in Palestine, 1948: Israeli and Arab Strategy and Diplomacy,'' p. 154.</ref> On 23 May Abdullah told the French consul in Amman that he "was determined to fight Zionism and prevent the establishment of an Israeli state on the border of his kingdom".<ref>Zamir, 2010, p. 34</ref>

Abdullah's role in this war became substantial. He saw himself as the "supreme commander of the Arab forces" and "persuaded the Arab League to appoint him" to this position.<ref>Tripp, 2001, p. 137.</ref> Through his leadership, the Arabs fought the 1948 war to meet Abdullah's political goals.