On Nov. 29, 1947, the UN approved a partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish territories. Arab leaders refused to accept the partition and launched a war to prevent it in early 1948. By May 13, 1948, Zionists, or proponents of the establishment of the state of Israel, had secured complete control of the proposed Jewish homeland and had taken some Arab areas as well. On May 14 the State of Israel was officially proclaimed. This was followed by a continuation of hostilities between Arabs and Jews called the First Arab-Israeli War. The war was settled by an armistice agreement in 1949, but Israel has lived surrounded by hostile Arab states ever since.