Jerusalem. When Israel declared independence in 1948 the capital was declared the eternal capital of the Jewish people. However during the War of Independence Transjordan conquered and occupied the eastern portion and annexed it, along with Judea and Samaria. The Transjordan (now renamed Jordan) military razed the Jewish parts of the eastern side, including the Jewish Quarter, the great Hurva synagogue, and every Jewish cemetery within their area. They banished all surviving Jews and besieged Western Jerusalem, ethnically cleansing the east part of the city of Jews for the first time in millenia. Following the 1949 peace Rhodes accords which ended the war, Israel retained Western Jerusalem as its capital, building the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) and other governments buildings there.