Page 134 - big friday
P. 134
M ichael Ben-Gal: Why I Missed the Declaration Ceremony
M ichael Ben-Gal, Tel Aviv regional commander for the Hagana and later
a general in the IDF, missed the ceremony for a very special reason.
"I think I was the only person in the country who had in his possession an invitation to
the ceremony of the proclamation of the state, but didn't attend. Anyone seeking my face
in the photographs of the historic ceremony at the Tel Aviv Museum, will search in vain. I
decided, quite rationally, that I had to be elsewhere. In Jaffa.
There weren't many cars then with radios. The convoy that planned to enter Jaffa included
the vehicle of the secretary of the Tel Aviv municipality, Yehuda Nedivi, and it had a
radio. We gathered around the car and listened to the beginning of the ceremony. It was
at precisely 4pm, and only after a few moments of broadcasting did we start moving. We
entered from south-east, from Mikveh Yisrael, along Abu Kabir – today, Ben-Zvi Street –
up to the municipal plaza.
A t the plaza, as per the plan, a sub-unit separated from us and seized the Jaffa municipal
building. Then we continued on the main road of Jaffa – King George Boulevard (today –
Jerusalem Boulevard), to Bustros Street, all the way to the port. We didn't see any residents.
The town was almost empty.
I have often been asked how I could forego the historic occasion. My answer is that
as the Hagana commander in Tel Aviv, despite the importance of the ceremony of the
proclamation of the state at the museum, I knew that I belonged in Jaffa, so as to be with
the forces that entered the city and seized its central positions."
The convoy of Hagana soldiers conquering Jaffa halted at 4pm to listen to the
ceremony of the Proclamation of the State
132 The Friday That Changed Destiny
M ichael Ben-Gal, Tel Aviv regional commander for the Hagana and later
a general in the IDF, missed the ceremony for a very special reason.
"I think I was the only person in the country who had in his possession an invitation to
the ceremony of the proclamation of the state, but didn't attend. Anyone seeking my face
in the photographs of the historic ceremony at the Tel Aviv Museum, will search in vain. I
decided, quite rationally, that I had to be elsewhere. In Jaffa.
There weren't many cars then with radios. The convoy that planned to enter Jaffa included
the vehicle of the secretary of the Tel Aviv municipality, Yehuda Nedivi, and it had a
radio. We gathered around the car and listened to the beginning of the ceremony. It was
at precisely 4pm, and only after a few moments of broadcasting did we start moving. We
entered from south-east, from Mikveh Yisrael, along Abu Kabir – today, Ben-Zvi Street –
up to the municipal plaza.
A t the plaza, as per the plan, a sub-unit separated from us and seized the Jaffa municipal
building. Then we continued on the main road of Jaffa – King George Boulevard (today –
Jerusalem Boulevard), to Bustros Street, all the way to the port. We didn't see any residents.
The town was almost empty.
I have often been asked how I could forego the historic occasion. My answer is that
as the Hagana commander in Tel Aviv, despite the importance of the ceremony of the
proclamation of the state at the museum, I knew that I belonged in Jaffa, so as to be with
the forces that entered the city and seized its central positions."
The convoy of Hagana soldiers conquering Jaffa halted at 4pm to listen to the
ceremony of the Proclamation of the State
132 The Friday That Changed Destiny
