Page 25 - big friday
P. 25
ernational organization as a reliable support for the future state. And since he took a
long-term view, he refused to bind himself in advance to the UN Partition Plan. Just as
he had opposed the proposition of some members of the People’s Administration [which
became the Provisional Government, upon the declaration of the state] to explicitly
designate the borders of Israel, so he objected the mention of the Partition Plan in the
Declaration of Independence. Even today, more than 29 years later [Bar-Zohar wrote his
book in 1977], the amendment that Ben-Gurion introduced that night has great value.
Under pressure from the Arab world to return to the Partition borders, it would have
been most embarrassing for Israel if its critics could have based their demand on its own
Declaration of Independence.
That night Ben-Gurion slept about two hours. He got up in the morning at seven, as
usual, and drank his mug of Turkish coffee at the kitchen table, while looking through
documents and telegrams. This was a routine start to a day like any other. Nothing in Ben-
Gurion's manner hinted to any special sort of excitement. But this was an historic day; a day
that the Jewish People had longed for and awaited for two thousand years. At exactly the
same time, the rays of the Jerusalem sun illuminated a symbolic scene: in the courtyard of
the Government House, General Cunningham, the British High Commissioner, reviewed
a guard of honor of 50 gleaming soldiers, and then got into his official motorcar, which
headed for the airport in Kalandia. The small convoy that escorted him passed through the
empty streets, along the line of soldiers presenting arms. Flag-bearers in pressed uniforms,
berets, short pants, and leg warmers, lowered the flags all the way down, until the silk
sheets with their decorateive tassels scraped the cold asphalt of the Jerusalem streets. With
lowered banners and without a backward glance, England deserted the Land of Israel.
Ben-Gurion was already in his room in the "Red House" [Hagana headquarters] when
he heard the hum of an airplane in the sky, a little after 8am. It was the light plane taking
Cunningham to Haifa, where the last Commissioner would board the HMS Euryalus
and wait in the coastal waters for the Mandate to officially end. At midnight, the start
of Saturday, May 15th, the British Mandate over the Land of Israel would expire. The
sanctity of the Jewish Sabbath dictated that the declaration of the state take place on Friday.
B en-Gurion spent most of the morning in intensive discussions with the General Staff.
News from the fronts was coming in fast and furious, demanding immediate decisions.
The Hagana forces had to retreat from Latrun following an artillery bombardment. The
attempt by the Alexandroni Brigade to reach Kfar Tira had failed; on the other hand, Arab
Kfar Saba had been captured. It was decided that Atarot and Har Tuv, in the Jerusalem
hills, would be evacuated. Quiet prevailed in Jaffa following its surrender. A plane carrying
weapons had been dispatched to the besieged kibbutz of Beit HaArava. One of the General
Staff officers reported on talks held the previous day with members of the Irgun to arrive
at an agreement for their inclusion in battle. Above it all there loomed the melancholy
shadow of the disaster in Gush Etzion [the Etzion Bloc]. At 11am the General Staff was
informed of the Bloc's surrender.
B en-Gurion laid out his new strategy before the members of the General Staff. During
A State is Born 23
long-term view, he refused to bind himself in advance to the UN Partition Plan. Just as
he had opposed the proposition of some members of the People’s Administration [which
became the Provisional Government, upon the declaration of the state] to explicitly
designate the borders of Israel, so he objected the mention of the Partition Plan in the
Declaration of Independence. Even today, more than 29 years later [Bar-Zohar wrote his
book in 1977], the amendment that Ben-Gurion introduced that night has great value.
Under pressure from the Arab world to return to the Partition borders, it would have
been most embarrassing for Israel if its critics could have based their demand on its own
Declaration of Independence.
That night Ben-Gurion slept about two hours. He got up in the morning at seven, as
usual, and drank his mug of Turkish coffee at the kitchen table, while looking through
documents and telegrams. This was a routine start to a day like any other. Nothing in Ben-
Gurion's manner hinted to any special sort of excitement. But this was an historic day; a day
that the Jewish People had longed for and awaited for two thousand years. At exactly the
same time, the rays of the Jerusalem sun illuminated a symbolic scene: in the courtyard of
the Government House, General Cunningham, the British High Commissioner, reviewed
a guard of honor of 50 gleaming soldiers, and then got into his official motorcar, which
headed for the airport in Kalandia. The small convoy that escorted him passed through the
empty streets, along the line of soldiers presenting arms. Flag-bearers in pressed uniforms,
berets, short pants, and leg warmers, lowered the flags all the way down, until the silk
sheets with their decorateive tassels scraped the cold asphalt of the Jerusalem streets. With
lowered banners and without a backward glance, England deserted the Land of Israel.
Ben-Gurion was already in his room in the "Red House" [Hagana headquarters] when
he heard the hum of an airplane in the sky, a little after 8am. It was the light plane taking
Cunningham to Haifa, where the last Commissioner would board the HMS Euryalus
and wait in the coastal waters for the Mandate to officially end. At midnight, the start
of Saturday, May 15th, the British Mandate over the Land of Israel would expire. The
sanctity of the Jewish Sabbath dictated that the declaration of the state take place on Friday.
B en-Gurion spent most of the morning in intensive discussions with the General Staff.
News from the fronts was coming in fast and furious, demanding immediate decisions.
The Hagana forces had to retreat from Latrun following an artillery bombardment. The
attempt by the Alexandroni Brigade to reach Kfar Tira had failed; on the other hand, Arab
Kfar Saba had been captured. It was decided that Atarot and Har Tuv, in the Jerusalem
hills, would be evacuated. Quiet prevailed in Jaffa following its surrender. A plane carrying
weapons had been dispatched to the besieged kibbutz of Beit HaArava. One of the General
Staff officers reported on talks held the previous day with members of the Irgun to arrive
at an agreement for their inclusion in battle. Above it all there loomed the melancholy
shadow of the disaster in Gush Etzion [the Etzion Bloc]. At 11am the General Staff was
informed of the Bloc's surrender.
B en-Gurion laid out his new strategy before the members of the General Staff. During
A State is Born 23
