The State of Israel was a nation formed out of the British Mandate of Palestine in 1948 originally to act as a temporary homeland for European Jews after the Jewish Holocaust. Upon declaring independence, Israel was a democratic nation, but the native Palestinian population was persecuted by the government, and illegal settlements were established in the Palestinian territories. Israel occupied Palestinian territory until 2040 when Israel made an accommodation with Turkey, giving up the West Bank in exchange for neutrality in a possible World War III. The Gaza strip was flooded, so Israel would be free to annex it.