What country was Jerusalem in before Israel?

Jerusalem has a long and complex history, and it has been ruled by various empires and states throughout the centuries. According to the Bible, the Israelite history of the city began in c. 1000 BCE, with King David’s sack of Jerusalem, following which Jerusalem became the City of David and the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel.

The city was later ruled by various empires, including the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. In modern times, Jerusalem was part of the British Mandate for Palestine from 1917 to 1948.  After the end of the mandate, Israel declared its independence in 1948, and Jerusalem became part of Israel.

Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire from the early 16th century until the end of World War I. During this time, it was administered as part of the Ottoman province of Damascus.

After World War I and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations granted Britain the mandate to govern Palestine, which included Jerusalem, from 1920 until 1948. During this period, Jerusalem was administered by the British Mandate authorities.

In 1947, the United Nations proposed a partition plan for Mandatory Palestine, which recommended the establishment of separate Jewish and Arab states and an international administration for Jerusalem. Under the UN plan, Jerusalem was to have special international status. However, this plan was not fully implemented due to the outbreak of conflict in the region.

On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, declared the establishment of the State of Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital. This declaration came shortly before the expiration of the British Mandate.

The declaration of Israel was followed by an invasion of neighboring Arab states, and Jerusalem became a central point of conflict during the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949. The war concluded with a series of armistice agreements in 1949. As a result, Jerusalem was divided into Israeli-controlled West Jerusalem and Jordanian-controlled East Jerusalem, with the Old City located within Jordanian territory.

The status of Jerusalem remained contentious in the years following the establishment of Israel, and it was not until the Six-Day War in 1967 that Israel captured and subsequently annexed East Jerusalem, including the Old City, from Jordan.

This move has been a subject of international dispute, and the status of Jerusalem remains a central issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Many countries do not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over East Jerusalem and consider the city’s final status to be a matter to be determined through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.