The key to Jerusalem was the Bab el Wad, the steep mountain pass over which ran the road from Tel Aviv. Arabs raided Jewish convoys carrying supplies to Jerusalem and nearly starved the city into submission.

The Arabs responded to the UN vote on Partition by attacking and looting the Commercial Center. The war between Jews and Arabs had begun, as over 70 people on both sides were killed in the first two weeks of December, 1947.

The historic day finally came- the UN voted to partition Palestine into two separate states; one for the Jews, one for the Arabs. After intense lobbying pressure from the Zionists, the UN voted in favor of Partition. People in Jerusalem went wild with celebration, even though they knew war would soon follow.

Facing pressure from all sides, Great Britain referred the matter of Palestine to the United Nations, which created UNSCOP, or UN Special Committee on Palestine. The committee visited Palestine during a time when the Irgun killed British soldiers and the British forced the Zionist ship "Exodus" to return to Europe.