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May 14: Israel Declares Independence

lawrencebush
May 14, 2011

Israel declared itself an independent state on this date in 1948, eight hours before the official end of the British Mandate. Debate over the wording of the Declaration of Independence — especially about borders, God, and the name of the new state — continued until the very last minute, and the ceremony (at the Tel Aviv Museum) was kept secret to avoid provoking either the British or Arab armies into a preemptive attack. The reading of the Declaration by David Ben-Gurion was nevertheless carried live as the first broadcast of the Kol Israel (Voice of Israel) radio station. “Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the ‘Ingathering of the Exiles,’ ” said the Declaration; “it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex. . .” The document also extended “our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land.” Within days, however, the new state was invaded by armies from Egypt, Trans-Jordan, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Lebanon and Syria.

“When we say that the Arabs are the aggressors and we defend ourselves — this is only half the truth. As regards our security and life we defend ourselves and our moral and physical position is not bad. . . . But the fighting is only one aspect of the conflict which is in its essence a political one. And politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves.” —David Ben-Gurion, 1938