77 Years Ago Israel Declared Independence

It was the Zionist dream. After two millennia of praying, the exile of the Jewish Nation was over. The indigenous people of the Holy Land had a sovereign state in its eternal homeland.

Despite what you might have heard, there was never an Arab state called Palestine. The Arabic tradition grew with the establishment of Islam in the early 7th century, approximately 500 years after the Jewish State of Judea was destroyed.

How The Jews Were Pushed Out Of Their Eternal Homeland

After crushing the Bar Kochba revolt in 135 CE, Romans, who were the descendants of Jacob’s twin brother Esau, punished the Judeans (Jews) for revolting for the second time in sixty years.

After defeating the Judeans, Rome changed the country’s name from Judea to Syria Palaestina as a way of poking those rebellious Judeans in the eye. They chose Palaestina because it was the name of the ancient Judean enemy, the Philistines. The Philistines were long gone by that time, having disappeared from existence around eight hundred years earlier, but the Romans wanted to severely hurt the Judeans.

At the same time, the Romans changed the name of Jerusalem, Judea’s capital, to Aelia Capitolina (literally, the Capitoline Hill of the House of Aelius).

After the Roman Empire fell apart, the Byzantine Empire took control of the Holy Land around 330 C.E. It was conquered by Muslim Arab forces and the Ottoman Empire about three hundred years later.

After World War I, Great Britain was given control of Palestine. They still called the land Palestine, which the Romans named for the land. It was populated by both Jews and Arabs. Three decades after Great Britain was given the land to rule, the hopes and prayers of so many generations of the Jewish Nation, the indigenous people of the Holy Land, were finally fulfilled.

Note: Jewish Nation refers to the people, not the country Israel, as G-d said to Abram (Abraham) in Genesis Chapter 12, verse 2, “And I will make you into a great nation.”

Despite what you might have heard, there was never an Arab state called Palestine. The Arabic tradition grew with the establishment of Islam in the early 7th century, approximately 500 years after the Jewish State of Judea was destroyed.

The Byzantine Empire, a remnant of the Roman Empire, gained control of the Holy Land around the year 330 C.E. In 638, it was conquered by Muslim Arab forces, and subsequently, the Ottoman Empire emerged as the dominant power.

Following World War I, Great Britain was granted control of Palestine, which was administered under the British Mandate for Palestine. It was a harsh rule that didn’t even allow Jews fleeing the Nazi horrors to enter their historic homeland.

The Jewish State

Keep in mind even after the Roman defeat of Judea, there were always Jews living in their indigenous homeland.

Less than three decades after, the British took control of the land. The hopes and prayers of generations of the Jewish Nation had finally been fulfilled. For the first time since 135 CE, a Jewish government had sovereignty over its ancient and ancestral homeland.

The Jewish State’s existence would have been very short-lived were it not for the strong will of President Harry S Truman, who became the first world leader to recognize Israel, despite the objections of a man considered a national hero at the time, Secretary of State George Marshall. At the time, Marshall was much more popular with the American people than President Truman, who had never been elected to the Oval Office. He was a relatively unknown V.P. who took over when FDR passed away.

To Recognize Israel, Truman Had To Fight A National Hero

This President didn’t make this decision because of politics, but like so many of Truman’s policies, he supported Israel because he thought it was the right thing to do. Of course, some attributed Truman’s stance to something else.

“What I am trying to do is make the whole world safe for Jews,” Harry Truman wrote as he agonized over his decision to recognize a Jewish state and end the British Mandate over Palestine.

Secretary of State George Marshall (Time’s 1947 Man of the Year) was an international hero who was just as opposed to the creation of Israel as forcefully as Truman was in favor of it. Truman, an accidental president, had no voter base and was infinitely less popular than Marshall.

Clark M. Clifford, Special Counsel to the President, recalled the internal Truman administration debate over recognizing the Jewish State and the final discussion in the Oval Office. The meeting turned out to be a fierce battle, with Clifford and the President on one side and Marshall and Undersecretary of State Robert Lovett on the other.

Lovett first argued Truman was supporting Israel solely for political gain, and he warned the President the move would lose more votes than it would gain.

When that didn’t work, Lovett tried another approach –the red scare ( in other words, those Jews are a bunch of commies).

Clark Clifford, who recommended that the President recognize the nascent State, recalled the argument:

Mr. President, to recognize the Jewish state prematurely would be buying a pig in a poke.

Pig in a poke? Non-Kosher? Gee, that’s a perfect way to describe a Jewish State. Surprised he didn’t say clam in a creek or lobster in a lake.

“do we know what kind of Jewish state will be set up? We have many reports from British and American intelligence agents that Soviets are sending Jews and Communist agents into Palestine from the Black Sea area.

What an idiot! Didn’t he know Stalin was killing Jews? And many Jews were escaping Stalin through Odessa.

Marshall Threatens Truman

When Lovett was done speaking, it was the “hero” Marshall’s turn. Clifford described the scene as Marshall made a political threat:

“He was still furious. Speaking with barely contained rage and more than a hint of self-righ­teousness, he made the most remarkable threat Clifford says he ever heard anyone make directly to a President.

If you follow Clifford’s advice and if I were to vote in the election, I would vote against you.”

Israel Is Declared, And Truman Acts

But Truman’s mind was made up– he was going to do the right thing. At 4 p.m. Friday, May 14, 1948, just before the start of the Jewish Sabbath, David Ben Gurion read a 979-word declaration of independence in front of a small audience at the Tel Aviv Art Museum. He finished in his usual terse manner. “The State of Israel is established! The meeting is ended.”

A few hours later, at midnight, British rule over Palestine lapsed–11 minutes later, White House spokesman Charlie Ross announced U.S. recognition.

How Did Israel Get Its Name?

Notice how Truman first wrote “new Jewish State” and then crossed it out and hand wrote “new state of Israel’? That’s because no one knew what the new state’s name would be. According to Martin Kramer, other contenders included

• Judea– “The geographic Judea was too small and not slated to be part of the state,” and its citizens would be known as Yehudim, the Hebrew name for Jews. That wouldn’t sit well with the Arab residents.
• Zion – Zion is the name of a hill overlooking Jerusalem.” Per the original UN partition plan, it was an internationally controlled city held by Jordan from 1948 to 1967. Also, if named Zion, there would be confusion between the people who supported establishing a Jewish state in the holy land (Zionists) and the actual residents of the new state.
• Ever– Someone proposed “Ever”—the root of the word “Ivri,” which means Hebrew. That option had no supporters (thank G-d!)

Two days before the news state was declared, the cabinet-in-waiting, known as  the People’s Administration, took a vote:

It was Mr. Ben-Gurion who first suggested “Israel.” It seemed strange at the beginning, and the proposal was received coolly. But members tried pronouncing “Israel Government,” “Israel Army,” “Israel citizen,” “Israel consul” to see how it sounded. Most were unenthusiastic, but there were only 48 hours left and much urgent work to be done, and the matter was put to a vote. Seven of the ten members present voted for “Israel.”

An Important Partnership For Both Countries

Beyond morality, Truman’s recognition was the right move for America

Since the creation of Israel, while the U.S. has provided Israel with vital economic and military support, what most people don’t understand is that it is a two-way street. Israel has contributed to American security through counterterrorism training, intelligence sharing, and military innovations, including unmanned aerial vehicles and missile defense.

Israel has also shared advances in the high-tech medical sectors that have helped maintain American economic competitiveness and communications with Americans. Israel’s breakthroughs in irrigation technology have helped American farmers to feed the world. There is so much more — but that’s a different post.-

Herut North America works to protect the Jewish State that declared independence seventy- seven years ago today, the Jewish people in America and Jewish people worldwide.. Herut promotes unapologetic Judaism and unapologetic Zionism. Herut’s commitment to fighting Antisemitism and promoting Israel is the reason I am proud to run on the Herut North America Slate 23 in the World Zionist Congress (WZC) election.

My colleagues on the Herut slate are genuine activists. We are “boots on the ground” action people unapologetically fighting antisemitism. We are unapologetic Zionists fighting to protect the indigenous homeland of the Jewish people and the people who live there.

Please consider voting for Herut North America for the World Zionist Congress. The link is https://us.voteherut2025.com/Jeff  Slate 23 Unapologetic Zionists.

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don’t know about Israel’s independence, don’t know about Israel’s independence

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 don’t know about Israel’s independence