May 14: Declaration of the State of Israel (1948)
Prayer Idea
Pray for the people and government of Israel and for peace with their neighbors.
History Note
During and after the Middle Ages, Jews in Europe and Russia were often treated with prejudice and contempt. In the late 1800s, persecutions against Jews became more widespread. Many Jews came to believe that the only answer to these attacks was for Jews to have their own homeland, where they could live in peace and security. This growing desire developed into the Zionist Movement. Zion was another name for the homeland of Old Testament Israel, from Mount Zion, the location of the temple in Jerusalem.
The Zionist Movement’s leading spokesman was Theodor Herzl, a Jewish journalist born in Hungary in 1860. Herzl published the 1896 book The Jewish State and organized several Zionist conferences or congresses in Europe, beginning in 1897. People proposed various places where a Jewish homeland might be located, but European Jews became focused on creating a Jewish homeland in the historic land of Israel.
However, this idea met opposition for two main reasons. First, Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire, and the Ottomans did not want to give it up. Second, Palestine already had people living there. The population included Muslims, Christians, and Jews. They had been living together with relatively little conflict. The majority of Muslims in the Middle East are also Arabs, but “Arab” and “Muslim” are not synonymous. Some Arabs in the Middle East are Christians.
European Jews began buying land in Palestine to enable Jews to settle there. The Arabs in Palestine at first welcomed this development because it brought in much-needed economic activity. As Jews prospered there, some Arabs moved in from other countries to find work. However, the Arab population in Palestine began to feel threatened by the increased presence of Jews and started opposing the Jewish influx.
With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the United Kingdom established control in the area that eventually became modern Israel, Jordan, and Iraq. British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour announced that Britain endorsed the idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
At the Paris Peace Conference following the war, both Arab and Zionist delegations made appeals to the delegates, asking them to consider their desires in the post-war world. The League of Nations endorsed what was called a mandate system: Great Britain had the League’s mandate to oversee Palestine.
The mandate period in Palestine was extremely unstable. Thousands of Jews moved into the area, trusting British protection and anticipating the establishment of a Jewish homeland. The Jewish population of Palestine rose from less than 84,000 in 1922 to 608,000 in 1948. At the same time, non-Jewish residents in Palestine began actively protesting and resisting the rapid immigration of Jews. Then Jewish nationalists, who wanted complete independence, began resisting the British presence in the hope of driving the British out and gaining control of the region.
Britain announced in 1947 that it would no longer be able to govern the region. The United Nations (UN) endorsed dividing Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state with Jerusalem as an international city administered by the UN. Jews accepted this endorsement of a state; and on May 14, 1948, the state of Israel was proclaimed.
May 14, 1948, corresponded with the date of 5th of Iyar in the Hebrew calendar. Today the country of Israel celebrates Yom Ha'atzmaut (“Day of Independence”) on that date, unless it falls on the Sabbath. The date on the Gregorian calendar ranges from late April to early May.
David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the Declaration of the State of Israel in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948. Hanging on the wall is a portrait of Theodor Herzl. Image courtesy the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Learn More
This is a song with lyrics drawn from Israel's 1948 proclamation of independence. It features video and images of Jewish people in Israel over the decades.
Find other resources at Homeschool History.
