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Ben-Gurion Builder of Israel
The British said they would give up their mandate and start leaving at midnight on Friday, May 14. On Wednesday morning of that week Ben-Gurion called the Provisional Council to a meeting. The most important question was whether most of them still agreed this was the time to declare the state. Ben-Gurion wanted no one to say, later, that he alone had made the decision or shouted down the people who were against it. Yigael Yadin told them he had learned that the armies of all the surrounding Arab states were moving toward the Arab areas of Palestine. They could expect an attack from all directions on Saturday and air raids on Tel Aviv. In spite of this they voted to carry out their plan for a Jewish state. The next question was to decide the exact time when the state should be declared. It should not be done until midnight on Friday because the mandate would not end until then. But at sundown on Friday the Sabbath would begin, and after that the Orthodox members of the council would not be able to sign their names or travel by automobile. But they figured out that if they started the declaration ceremony at four o’clock on Friday it would be finished well before the setting of the sun. After the council meeting ended, a meeting of the future Cabinet was held. One of the things they had to decide on was a name for the new state. Many names were suggested, among them Zion, Judea, and Ever, meaning "Hebrew." "I suggest ‘Israel’," said a voice. It was Ben-Gurion himself who had spoken. The word sounded strange at first. They kept saying it, half aloud, trying it out. "Israel." "The Israeli Government." "An Israeli citizen." Most of them knew that the original meaning of Israel is "the one who contested with G-d" and was originally applied in the Bible to Jacob, whose children were called "the children of Israel." Ben-Gurion asked them to take a vote. The majority voted for "Israel." So the
new country had a name. On Friday, the most important day of his life, David Ben-Gurion rose from bed at seven o’clock in the morning, dressed, and went downstairs to the kitchen. He greeted Paula with a few affectionate words of Hebrew and then sat down at the table to have his coffee while he looked at the morning newspapers. "There was a call that you must be at headquarters for another meeting at nine," she told him. Outside the house an army jeep was waiting for him. At headquarters a dozen officers were bending over maps. Ben-Gurion listened to what they said. There was a frown on his face most of the time. He kept opening and closing his fists impatiently. Messengers came and went. Some of the notes they brought from the commanders at the front lines were good news; some were bad. At Latrun the enemy’s artillery had fired at the Jewish forces all night. The only piece of artillery Haganah had was captured. Suddenly there was the noise of a plane. Ben-Gurion ran to the window. It was flying low. "British," someone said. "It looks as if the British are really leaving," another officer said. Yadin suggested that Ben-Gurion order the people to make air-raid shelters, dig trenches, and help build road blocks. At noon a jeep drove him home. Ben-Gurion went to his room to change his clothes. He put on a dark blue suit, a white shirt, dark shoes and socks, and a dark silk tie. Suddenly he called to Paula: "Has anyone done anything about Rabbi Fishman?" His old friend, Rabbi Fishman, lived in Jerusalem, which was now partly held by the Arabs. It would be difficult for anyone to get from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, but Ben-Gurion wanted the Rabbi at the ceremony, so a Piper Cub plane was sent for him and he arrived in time. A messenger came from headquarters. Chief of Staff Dostrovsky had just been taken to the hospital, so Yadin would now have to take over all of his job. At one o’clock Ben-Gurion had a meeting with the Provisional Council to vote on the name the future Cabinet had chosen for their state, and also on the declaration of independence it had written. When they had voted for both "Israel" and the declaration - with a few changes some of the members wanted -the meeting ended. As they left the room, Rabbi Fishman stopped Ben-Gurion and asked: "Are we going to war with the Arabs?" Ben-Gurion nodded. "And do we have anything to use in the air against them except that broken-down cart?" he wanted to know. Then the old Rabbi told Ben-Gurion about his trip from Jerusalem. "A man came to me and said he had orders from the future Prime Minister that I was to come with him. He took me to a field where there was a broken-down old cart." The Rabbi never called the Piper Cub a plane. He insisted it was a broken-down old cart. The pilot tied him in with ropes, and they "flew in twisting ways, sometimes north and sometimes south." He was sure it took a few hours to go the forty air miles. He kept shaking his head and saying: "I don’t know how we can beat the Arabs with flying carts like that." Ben-Gurion went home to rest for an hour. As he drove through Tel Aviv the streets were crowded. Trucks loaded with young soldiers, both men and girls, raced through the streets on their way to the front lines. Just before four o’clock a fleet of shining new American automobiles bringing the officials of the new government drew up in front of the Municipal Museum. The two hundred invited guests had not kept the secret very well, because the street was crowded with people. Many carried blue-and-white flags with the star of David on them. They cheered as each man stepped from a car. Ben-Gurion was the last official to enter the museum. He looked strong and dignified. The reporters started to write in their notebooks. An artist rushed in with the declaration of independence. He had finished the decoration but not the words. They would have to be put in later. The Tel Aviv Philharmonic Orchestra in the next room played Hatikvah, which would be Israel’s national anthem. Then Ben-Gurion stood up to read the declaration. His hand was trembling as he held it. He began: "The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people...." He was trying to keep his voice steady as he went on to say that Israel would be a state based on liberty, justice, and peace. Israel would cooperate with the United Nations and obey its rules. Christian and Moslem holy places would be protected. The hand of peace was held out to Arabs everywhere. His voice grew stronger. Some of the guests began to choke with tears as they heard
Ben-Gurion declare that Israel was now an independent state At exactly 4:37-1/2 in the afternoon Ben-Gurion rapped his gavel and said dramatically:
At about the time Ben-Gurion was going to sleep that night, the Haganah secret radio station received a message from America. Yaacov Yanai, head of the Haganah Signal Corps, wrote it down. It asked Ben-Gurion to do a broadcast to the United States. Yanai called one of Ben-Gurion’s aides. Several hours later the Haganah station heard that President Truman had recognized the State of Israel. This time Yanai drove straight to the Ben-Gurion house and banged on the front door. Paula finally answered. She was very angry. "What do you mean by making such a noise?" she said. "You will wake up Ben-Gurion." Yanai explained what had happened. But Paula said it made no difference; no one was going to bother her husband. Yanai pleaded, and at last Paula let him into the house. Ben-Gurion sat up in bed and blinked as Yanai excitedly told him the news. "I don’t believe it!" the Old Man said at first. But as he said it he was getting out of bed. "If it is true, I must broadcast to America." He put his coat on over his pajamas, while Paula found his socks and shoes. In the car on the way to the station he was quiet, thinking of what he wanted to say. It was twenty minutes after five in the morning in Tel Aviv when Ben-Gurion began his first broadcast to the United States. But in New York it was twenty minutes after ten in the evening. Five minutes later, while he was still on the air, the walls of the building suddenly trembled and the air was filled with a great noise. Ben-Gurion stopped talking for a moment and then calmly said into the microphone: "The noise you just heard came from bombs dropped by enemy aircraft which are flying over our heads." By the time the broadcaste was finished, Yanai had learned by telephone that Egyptian planes had bobmed Dov Airport, the secret Haganah landing field. "I must go there aned inspect the damage," Ben-Gurion declared. They were just getting into Yanai"s car when Ben-Gurion saw another car coming toward them. In it was Yadin. "Are you going tothe airport?" Ben_Gurion asked him. "Yes." he answered. I'll go, too," Ben-Gurion said. "No," Yadin said. He insisted that his Commander-in-Chief should get some rest. The days ahead were going to be very hard. Then he drove off alone. Half an hour after the first raid, more Egyptian planes came over Tel Aviv and headed for Dov Airport again. As the flew low, Yadin and the other Haganah men who were there threw themselves on the ground and held their breath. After the planes had gone and yadin was getting to his feet, he saw a man with a fringe of white hair coming toward him. "Ben-Gurion!" The Old Man grinned. "How did you get there?" Yadin asked. With a twinkle in his eye, Ben-Gurion said that after Yanai had left him at his door he commanded one of the guards on duty in front of his house to drive him to the airport. He had arrived at just the right moment. When Be-Gurion finally went home again, Paula had his breakfast ready. As he was eating, Yadin came in. He looked very upset. "The Egyptian Army has crossed the frontier and is bombarding our settlements," he said. "We expected it," Ben-Gurion replied. "The Arab Legion is moving, too. the Syrian Army as well," Yadin added. "I had better go to headquarters with you," his chief said. Yadin nodded. The Old Man went upstairs to change into battle dress. Yadin waited. Paula began washing the dishes.
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