We Have a State!
The British Leave

Joy in the Shadow of War
The celebrations after the declaration of Israel’s independence took place in the shadow of the war. The day before the declaration, the “queen fell”. Gush Etzion fell on 5.13.48. 240 civilians and soldiers fell in the battles of Gush Etzion. The Knesset eventually set that day as Memorial Day for Israel’s Fallen Soldiers. Thus memorializing and resurrection are entwined in the narrative of Israel and Zionism.
The Declaration of Independence
the Land of Israel, Palestine] 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.
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”.
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.
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).
Jerusalem – the Capital of Israel

The Story of Gush Etzion
On 4.30.43, the Avraham Group, a group of religious pioneers, founded the religious kibbutz, Kfar Etzion. It was an isolated Jewish settlement in the north of Mount Hebron. Gradually, its members labored to overcome the hardships of the rocky mountain and the difficulties of making a living. Water holes were dug, agricultural terraces were built, orchards were planted and livestock farming was developed- a dairy farm and a poultry farm. A vacation resort was prepared and plans were made to build an industrial plant and to operate a quarry.
Haim Nachman Bialik – the National Poet

Hatikva – The Israeli National Anthem
Lyrics: Naphtali Herz Imber | Music: Samuel Cohen
As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart,
With eyes turned toward the East, looking toward Zion,
Then our hope – the two-thousand-year-old hope – will not be lost:
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem
The symbol of Israel
An invitation to the signing of the Declaration of Independence ceremony