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ginal proposal, are the following: firstly, omission of any mention that the borders of the
state would be as stipulated by the UN General Assembly. This was of decisive importance,
and represented far-sighted perspicacity. By the end of the War of Independence, the
borders under Israel's control extended far beyond those which had been set forth by
the UN General Assembly, and to this day Israel has no internationally recognized
final borders. Secondly, a time was set for preparing a Constitution for the state, and it
was decided that the formative assembly that would draft the constitution would be an
elected assembly – i.e., a parliamentary democracy. The status of the People's Council
and the People's Administration were set forth – the first as a Provisional State Council,
the state's supreme legislative body; and the second as its executive body, the Provisional
Government – until these entities could be replaced by elected bodies in accordance with
the Constitution to be drawn up. Thirdly, the final version clarified and expanded on the
fundamental principles upon which the administration was to be based.
The parts of the declaration
H ow, then, did the founders imagine the character of the state that they founded, and what
has happened to that character over the thirty-one years of the state's existence? [This
article was written in 1979]
The declaration consists of two main parts: first there is the preamble, offering an
impressively concise review of the history of the Jewish People in the Land of Israel and
in the lands of its dispersion; its tremendous national and human achievements in the
spheres of culture and morality; its trials and tribulations throughout the ages and in our
own time; concluding with the most important statement of all: "This right is the natural
right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their
own sovereign State", an "irrevocable" right that was recognized by the UN. This belief in
the right of the Jewish People to establish and maintain our sovereign state in our historic
homeland has been fully realized, despite repeated violent efforts on the part of the Arab
states to subvert and destabilize the state and bring about its demise.
T he second part of the declaration is the practical, operative political section. It
starts by declaring that the People's Council, comprising representatives of the country's
Jewish community and of the Zionist Movement, have decided that on this day, with the
termination of the British Mandate over Palestine, a Jewish state is founded, to be known
as "the State of Israel". From the moment of termination of the Mandate, at midnight
on that day, the administrative institutions of the new state will come into effect. These
institutions, as stated, will be temporary, and will operate "until the establishment of the
elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be
adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948.” Thus
the continuity of administration was assured, with no vacuum even for a short period, and
the democratic nature of the state's institutions was assured.
From this point onwards the proclamation goes on to establish the nature of the state,
The Declaration at a Distance 241
state would be as stipulated by the UN General Assembly. This was of decisive importance,
and represented far-sighted perspicacity. By the end of the War of Independence, the
borders under Israel's control extended far beyond those which had been set forth by
the UN General Assembly, and to this day Israel has no internationally recognized
final borders. Secondly, a time was set for preparing a Constitution for the state, and it
was decided that the formative assembly that would draft the constitution would be an
elected assembly – i.e., a parliamentary democracy. The status of the People's Council
and the People's Administration were set forth – the first as a Provisional State Council,
the state's supreme legislative body; and the second as its executive body, the Provisional
Government – until these entities could be replaced by elected bodies in accordance with
the Constitution to be drawn up. Thirdly, the final version clarified and expanded on the
fundamental principles upon which the administration was to be based.
The parts of the declaration
H ow, then, did the founders imagine the character of the state that they founded, and what
has happened to that character over the thirty-one years of the state's existence? [This
article was written in 1979]
The declaration consists of two main parts: first there is the preamble, offering an
impressively concise review of the history of the Jewish People in the Land of Israel and
in the lands of its dispersion; its tremendous national and human achievements in the
spheres of culture and morality; its trials and tribulations throughout the ages and in our
own time; concluding with the most important statement of all: "This right is the natural
right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their
own sovereign State", an "irrevocable" right that was recognized by the UN. This belief in
the right of the Jewish People to establish and maintain our sovereign state in our historic
homeland has been fully realized, despite repeated violent efforts on the part of the Arab
states to subvert and destabilize the state and bring about its demise.
T he second part of the declaration is the practical, operative political section. It
starts by declaring that the People's Council, comprising representatives of the country's
Jewish community and of the Zionist Movement, have decided that on this day, with the
termination of the British Mandate over Palestine, a Jewish state is founded, to be known
as "the State of Israel". From the moment of termination of the Mandate, at midnight
on that day, the administrative institutions of the new state will come into effect. These
institutions, as stated, will be temporary, and will operate "until the establishment of the
elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be
adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948.” Thus
the continuity of administration was assured, with no vacuum even for a short period, and
the democratic nature of the state's institutions was assured.
From this point onwards the proclamation goes on to establish the nature of the state,
The Declaration at a Distance 241
