6 Tevet

December 26, 1949- Six British RAF warplanes enforcing a UN ceasefire were shot down by Israeli forces over the Israel-Egypt border. Throughout the 1948 War of Independence, Israel was terribly outnumbered in manpower and weapons -- initially the army did not have a single cannon or tank, and its air force consisted of nine obsolete planes. The United States had imposed an arms embargo on the region, forcing the Israelis to smuggle weapons, mainly from Czechoslovakia.

Meanwhile, the British provided large quantities of weapons to Arab forces.   Jordan's Arab Legion was armed, trained and led by British officers.