Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel. In: Iton Rishmi, Official Gazette of Israel, No.1.

BEN-GURION, DAVID et al.

Published by Tel Aviv 14 May ., 1948

About this Item

First printing of the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Folio (32.5 x 21.5 cm). pp.[4]. Unbound as issued, text in Hebrew. Housed in a bespoke box of half blue morocco over marbled boards. One hole punch to upper right, faint traces of a Hebrew stamp to recto of first leaf, generally in very good clean condition. Scarce first printing of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, the seminal historical document that established the first Jewish state in 2000 years. Originally published in the first issue of the Official Gazette of the Israeli provisional government, this landmark publication was printed on the first day of the birth of Israel. A bound set of "Iton Rishmi" reprinting this historic publication was issued later the same year. Formally entitled the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, the Israeli Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on May 14 1948, by David Ben-Gurion, the executive head of the World Zionist Organization, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, and, shortly after, the first Prime minister of Israel. It declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. This was the first publication rescinding the 1937 White Paper that had restricted Jewish immigration to Palestine. With the names of all of the signing members of the Provisional Government, headed by David Ben-Gurion, printed on p. 2, this document heralded the end of British involvement in Palestine, and the start of unrestricted immigration into the new Jewish state. It publishes for the very first time the full declaration as read out by Ben-Gurion at 4 pm on Friday, 14 May 1948, in the Tel-Aviv Museum (known today as Independence Hall). It announced that the National Council was to become the Provisional Government of Israel until a Constituent Assembly was formed on 1 October 1948. The address investigates the impetus towards the declaration, including the Balfour Declaration, the British Mandate and the harrowing events of WWII, and looks forward to full co-operation with the United Nations. The state of Israel, it says, "will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex".

Seller Inventory # 65730

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel. In: Iton Rishmi, Official Gazette of Israel, No.1.
• Publisher: Tel Aviv 14 May .
• Publication Date: 1948
• Binding: Hardcover
• Seller catalogs:
  • HISTORY & ECONOMICS
  • MIDDLE EAST & ISLAMIC