There seemed no hope of winning the war. How could the Jewish Yishuv, with a population of 650,000 and with no heavy weapons and planes, defeat five regular Arab armies, backed by countries with tens of millions of inhabitants? But within a few short weeks it became apparent that what mattered was not the quantity but the quality of the fighters, the organization of forces, leadership, settlement deployment - the fruit of seventy years of labor - and a feeling of simply having no choice. Everyone knew that defeat would mean a new Holocaust and this gave them added strength. In addition, organized Jewish-Zionists throughout the world put money, arms and manpower at the disposal of the young State.