Reading Benny Morris's book 1948, I am wondering if, had Israel chosen to continue the war in early 1949, it would have been able to capture and acquire additional territory--indeed, perhaps even all of Mandatory Palestine. Thus, here is my question to you:
Had Israel's War of Independence continued beyond early 1949, what would its outcome have been?
Any thoughts on this?
What do you mean by "Mandatory Palestine"? The bit to the west of the river Jordan, or all of the former British mandate (i.e. including what is now Jordan)?
If the former, then I think it's feasible that Israel everything west of the Jordan if the war drags on long enough. If the latter, I think capturing all of what is now Jordan would be very difficult for Israel.
One thing I'm wondering: let's suppose that Israel traps the Egyptian army in Gaza, and forces them to surrender. Israeli then demands that Egypt recognizes the existence of Israel, and permanently cedes Gaza and the Sinai to Israel, establishing the final border between the two countries on the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal itself is legally declared to be international waters.
How would Egypt respond to this? It's obviously humiliating for Egypt, but I don't know they could do other than accept it.
Also, how would the international community (USA, Britain, France, USSR) respond to this? Would they be supportive of Israel? Such an agreement, having two different countries on each side of the Suez Canal, would make it very difficult for anyone to nationalize/ seize control of the canal in the future. So I assume the international community would be fairly supportive of Israel?