The security situation of the Syrian Jewish community deteriorated in the late 1930s, during a period of increased Arab nationalism, pressure for independence from the French Empire leading to Syrian independence in 1946, World War, and growth of the Zionist community in Palestine. Anti-Western and Arab nationalist fervour took on an increasingly anti-Jewish tone. After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Jews in Syria faced greater discrimination as the government obstructed them. During this period, Jews and their property became the target of numerous attacks, which includes the Aleppo Pogrom attacks of 1947. On Friday night, August 5, 1947, several hand grenades were thrown into the Menarsha Synagogue in Damascus, which took a dozen lives and injuring thirty. The attack was planned to synchronize with the Lausanne Conference, which was signed between Israel and Syria on July 20, 1949.