Before 1948, the region that is now Israel was known as Palestine, which was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1917 and then under British control as a mandate until 1948. The term "Palestine" was used to refer to the entire region, which included what is now Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip. The name "Israel" was suggested by David Ben-Gurion and passed by a vote of 6-3 in the early weeks of independence in 1948.