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David Ben-Gurion (First Prime Minister of Israel) publicly pronouncing the Declaration of the State of Israel, May 14 1948, Tel Aviv, Israel, beneath a large portrait of Theodor Herzl, founder of modern political Zionism, in the old Tel Aviv Museum of Art building on Rothshild St.
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to adopt the Partition Plan dividing the land of Palestine then controlled by the British into a Jewish and Arab state. Shortly after this vote, the British government decided that British rule would end on midnight May 14th, 1948. The Jews would have the right to declare a state at 12am, May 15th, 1948 which falls out on the 6th of Iyyar on the Jewish calendar.
Fast forward a few months to the 5th of Iyyar, Friday May 14th, 1948. Debate raged in the Jewish council convened by David Ben Gurion about the new Jewish state’s Declaration of Independence. Religious members of this Jewish assembly insisted that this declaration mention the God of Israel while many secular Zionists opposed any mention of God. One political party insisted the declaration be signed at midnight when the British mandate officially expired. The religious parties asserted that such a situation would mean that the state would be “born in sin” and threatened to leave the convention as the Sabbath approached. A compromise satisfying both the secular majority and the religious delegates seemed impossible.
David Ben Gurion realized that to succeed any declaration of Jewish statehood required all the stakeholders to agree. He proposed that rather than refer to God, Israel’s declaration would end with a mention of placing trust in Tzur Yisrael, The Rock of Israel, a biblical term used as a synonym for God but one that could be interpreted differently by members of the assembly possessing a more secular outlook. [see Zionism: The Birth and Transformation of an Ideal,by Milton Viorst
available at https://tinyurl.com/39zvane2]
~ What are the different visions of the different stakeholders? Why finding a compromise is important, particularly in this case?
Translation of the Israeli Declaration of Independence (via the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.
After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.
Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland.
~ Why begin the Declaration of Independence focusing on the connection of the People of Israel with the Land of Israel? When did this connection begin?
~ Archeology supports the Israelite presence in the Land of Israel starting at 1200 BCE (with Joshua), because that's when the pottery changes. Does it matter?
~ This section doesn't refer to the Biblical covenant, where God says that the Land of Israel will belong to the patriarchs and their descendants (Gen. 12:7; 26:4; 28:13; Deut. 34:4 etc). Was it a good choice to leave that out?
In recent decades they returned in their masses. Pioneers, ma'pilim* and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing the blessings of progress to all the country's inhabitants, and aspiring towards independent nationhood.
In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish State, Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country.
This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the 2nd November, 1917, and re-affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave international sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and Eretz-Israel and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home.
* specific word for immigrants coming to Eretz-Israel in defiance of restrictive British legislation
The ingathering of exiles, settling, and cultivating the Land follow.
~ What new reasons for declaring the state are given in this section?
~ Why mention Herzl and the Balfour Declaration?
The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people - the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe - was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State, which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people the status of a fully privileged member of the comity of nations.
~ The Shoah is mentioned.
~ What new argument is being given in this section for why the state should be declared?
~ Why did the Shoah create an "urgency" for a Jewish state? Does that urgency still exist?
Survivors of the Nazi holocaust in Europe, as well as Jews from other parts of the world, continued to migrate to Eretz-Israel, undaunted by difficulties, restrictions and dangers, and never ceased to assert their right to a life of dignity, freedom and honest toil in their national homeland.
In the Second World War, the Jewish community of this country contributed its full share to the struggle of the freedom- and peace-loving nations against the forces of Nazi wickedness and, by the blood of its soldiers and its war effort, gained the right to be reckoned among the peoples who founded the United Nations.
~ Why mention the efforts of the Jews in the Yishuv against the Nazis?
On the 29th November, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel; the General Assembly required the inhabitants of Eretz-Israel to take such steps as were necessary on their part for the implementation of that resolution. This recognition by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is irrevocable.
This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State.
ACCORDINGLY WE, MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ERETZ-ISRAEL AND OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT, ARE HERE ASSEMBLED ON THE DAY OF THE TERMINATION OF THE BRITISH MANDATE OVER ERETZ-ISRAEL AND, BY VIRTUE OF OUR NATURAL AND HISTORIC RIGHT AND ON THE BASIS OF THE RESOLUTION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE OF ISRAEL.
~ What's the argument in this section? Should all people have their own state?
~ What are the responsibilities of a people who have their own state?
Up to here we had a sequence of reasons for founding the State of Israel.
Which one is the most compelling to you, why ?
Here's a summary:
The Tanach
Jewish history
anti-Semitism,
Zionism and the Hebrew language
the Shoah
the UN Resolution (11/29/47 - the Partition Plan)
the natural right of every people to have a state.
WE DECLARE that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the Mandate being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), until the establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948, the People's Council shall act as a Provisional Council of State, and its executive organ, the People's Administration, shall be the Provisional Government of the Jewish State, to be called "Israel".
THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; 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; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
THE STATE OF ISRAEL is prepared to cooperate with the agencies and representatives of the United Nations in implementing the resolution of the General Assembly of the 29th November, 1947, and will take steps to bring about the economic union of the whole of Eretz-Israel.
~ This section focuses on the promised view of the State of Israel.
~ What do you think "freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel" means?
~ Are the values in this section Jewish values? Are they important in the modern world? Why?
~ Is anything missing from this section?
~ What does it say about Israel that this section is included in its Declaration of Independence? Is there an inherent tension present in this section, or not, in your opinion?
WE APPEAL to the United Nations to assist the Jewish people in the building-up of its State and to receive the State of Israel into the comity of nations.
WE APPEAL - in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months - to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.
~ This section focuses on the rights of Arab inhabitants of Israel.
~ Are you surprised to learn that Israel extends citizenship to all Arab inhabitants of the sovereign state of Israel?
~ What responsibility does this give Israel? What responsibility does this give to the Arab residents?
WE EXTEND 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. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.
~ This section focuses on peace with Israel's Arab neighbors.
~ What does it mean that Israel offered peace to its Arab neighbors in its first public statement?
WE APPEAL to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews of Eretz-Israel in the tasks of immigration and upbuilding and to stand by them in the great struggle for the realization of the age-old dream - the redemption of Israel.
PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE "ROCK OF ISRAEL", WE AFFIX OUR SIGNATURES TO THIS PROCLAMATION AT THIS SESSION OF THE PROVISIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE, ON THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND, IN THE CITY OF TEL-AVIV, ON THIS SABBATH EVE, THE 5TH DAY OF IYAR, 5708 (14TH MAY,1948).
This section focuses on uniting Israel and Jews around the world.
Israel asked the Jews of the world to rally by its side. What do you think this meant in 1948? And what do you think it means today? Do you feel the need to rally by Israel's side?
The section suggests that the "redemption of Israel" is ongoing and not complete. What do you think this means? Do you feel a part of it?
The term "Rock of Israel" was a compromise between those who did and didn't want God in the Declaration of Independence. Does the inclusion of this term make it easier or harder for you to connect to the document?
Signed by: David Ben-Gurion, Daniel Auster, Mordekhai Bentov, Yitzchak Ben Zvi, Eliyahu Berligne, Fritz Bernstein, Rabbi Wolf Gold, Meir Grabovsky, Yitzchak Gruenbaum, Dr. Abraham Granovsky, Eliyahu Dobkin, Meir Wilner-Kovner, Zerach Wahrhaftig, Herzl Vardi Rachel Cohen, Rabbi Kalman Kahana, Saadia Kobashi, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Levin, Meir David Loewenstein, Zvi Luria, Golda Myerson, Nachum Nir, Zvi Segal, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Hacohen Fishman, David Zvi Pinkas, Aharon Zisling, Moshe Kolodny, Eliezer Kaplan, Abraham Katznelson, Felix Rosenblueth, David Remez, Berl Repetur, Mordekhai Shattner, Ben Zion Sternberg, Bekhor Shitreet, Moshe Shapira, Moshe Shertok
https://mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/peace/guide/pages/declaration%20of%20establishment%20of%20state%20of%20israel.aspx
Context: This is a video from the a cappella group The Maccabeats. They composed this song in 2018.
Comparison of the Israeli and American Declarations of Independence
Noteworthy similarities and differences exist between the American and Israeli Declarations of Independence. Both declarations assert independence and the right of their populations to control their own destinies, free from legislative impositions and despotic abuses. In the Israeli case, however, immediate past history was included, and it reflected earlier Jewish catastrophes and the prospects of potential physical annihilation. Both declarations sought self-determination, liberty, and freedom, derived their claims based on human and natural rights, promised safeguards for the individual, and proclaimed an interest in commerce or economic growth.
The Israeli Declaration of Independence contained a list of historical claims to the land of Israel. The Declaration cited benchmark historical events when the international community sanctioned the Jewish state’s legitimacy, particularly the acknowledgement to build a national home given by the League of Nations (1922) and by the United Nations (1947) to establish a Jewish state. While there were skirmishes going on between Americans and the British when the American Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, when Israel declared its independence it was in the midst of a full-fledged war for survival with the local Arab population and surrounding Arab states. The on-going war notwithstanding, the Israeli Declaration of Independence includes a declaratory statement offering “peace and amity” to its neighbors and the request “to return to the ways of peace.” Both declarations made reference to a higher authority: the Israeli Declaration of Independence does not mention religion, but it closes with the phrase “with trust in the Rock of Israel [Tzur Yisrael].” The choice of this phrase was Ben-Gurion’s verbal compromise, made to balance strong secular and religious pressures. Any precise mention of religion might have required mention of religious practice, which could have created enormous social fragmentation in the early fragile years of the state. By contrast, the American Declaration of Independence appealed to the “Supreme Judge, protection of the Divine.”
https://israeled.org/resources/documents/israel-declaration-independence/
With appreciation to Rabbi Dina Rosenberg, Yair Walton, Rabbi Yoni Regev, Tzvi Pittinsky, Reconstructing Judaism's Haggadat Ha'atzmaut, the iCenter, JCRC, Center for Israel Education, and Lookstein.
Appendix: Verses Referencing G-d as “The Rock of Israel”
(ג) אָמַר֙ אֱלֹקֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לִ֥י דִבֶּ֖ר צ֣וּר יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל מוֹשֵׁל֙ בָּאָדָ֔ם צַדִּ֕יק מוֹשֵׁ֖ל יִרְאַ֥ת אֱלֹקִֽים׃
(3) The God of Israel has spoken, The Rock of Israel said concerning me: “He who rules men justly, He who rules in awe of God
(כט) הַשִּׁיר֙ יִֽהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם כְּלֵ֖יל הִתְקַדֶּשׁ־חָ֑ג וְשִׂמְחַ֣ת לֵבָ֗ב כַּֽהוֹלֵךְ֙ בֶּֽחָלִ֔יל לָב֥וֹא בְהַר־ה' אֶל־צ֥וּר יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
(29) For you, there shall be singing as on a night when a festival is hallowed; There shall be rejoicing as when they march with flute, with timbrels, and with lyres To the Rock of Israel on the Mount of the Eternal.
(15) May the words of my mouth and the prayer of my heart be acceptable to You, O God, my rock and my redeemer.