Page 252 - big friday
P. 252
T he Legal Standing
o f the Declaration of Independence
N ine years after the publication of the above article by Supreme Court
Justice Zvi Berenson, another legalist, Prof. Zeev Segal, added further
layers of commentary on the subject.
Z eev Segal
On Friday, 5th Iyar 5708, May 14, 1948, the members of the People’s Administration, as
well as representatives of the Jewish population of Palestine and of the Zionist Movement,
gathered in the hall of the museum on Rothschild Avenue in Tel Aviv. David Ben-
Gurion read out to them the document that they were asked to sign: a proclamation of
the establishment of the State of Israel; the Proclamation of Independence. The Prime
Minister designate concluded the historic and brief session with the words, "The State of
Israel has arisen." The state had become a fact.
The Proclamation of Independence of the State of Israel is one of those historic
documents, like the Declaration of Independence of the United State and the Declaration
of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in France, that were created as an expression of
a social awakening; in our case, it was also an expression of the fulfillment of the dream
of generations. However, this ceremonial document was not meant merely to express the
fulfillment of a vision and the manifesto of its signatories. It was also meant to establish
a fact with real socio-legal significance. It was the Proclamation that created the state,
bringing it into existence ex nihilo. The proclamation may be regarded as the first source
for the existence of the state, representing the cornerstone for the entire state structure.
The readiness of the Yishuv to accept upon itself the yoke of the proclamation and the
burden of those legal norms that established the state institutions founded in accordance
with it, is what allows us to say that the State of Israel was established with the sounding
of the proclamation. It is the proclamation that represents the "basic norm" of Israeli
law. The obligation today of obeying the laws of the Knesset, which is the essence of the
principle of the rule of law in Israel, is based on that obligation of obedience that was
created in accordance with the proclamation, at the command of the People’s Council
[soon to become the Provisional State Council], which was the origin of the Knesset.
What, in fact, is the process that was created in accordance with the proclamation, and
which brought about the establishment of the State of Israel?
T he members of the People's Council, representatives of the Yishuv and of the Zionist
250 The Friday That Changed Destiny
o f the Declaration of Independence
N ine years after the publication of the above article by Supreme Court
Justice Zvi Berenson, another legalist, Prof. Zeev Segal, added further
layers of commentary on the subject.
Z eev Segal
On Friday, 5th Iyar 5708, May 14, 1948, the members of the People’s Administration, as
well as representatives of the Jewish population of Palestine and of the Zionist Movement,
gathered in the hall of the museum on Rothschild Avenue in Tel Aviv. David Ben-
Gurion read out to them the document that they were asked to sign: a proclamation of
the establishment of the State of Israel; the Proclamation of Independence. The Prime
Minister designate concluded the historic and brief session with the words, "The State of
Israel has arisen." The state had become a fact.
The Proclamation of Independence of the State of Israel is one of those historic
documents, like the Declaration of Independence of the United State and the Declaration
of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in France, that were created as an expression of
a social awakening; in our case, it was also an expression of the fulfillment of the dream
of generations. However, this ceremonial document was not meant merely to express the
fulfillment of a vision and the manifesto of its signatories. It was also meant to establish
a fact with real socio-legal significance. It was the Proclamation that created the state,
bringing it into existence ex nihilo. The proclamation may be regarded as the first source
for the existence of the state, representing the cornerstone for the entire state structure.
The readiness of the Yishuv to accept upon itself the yoke of the proclamation and the
burden of those legal norms that established the state institutions founded in accordance
with it, is what allows us to say that the State of Israel was established with the sounding
of the proclamation. It is the proclamation that represents the "basic norm" of Israeli
law. The obligation today of obeying the laws of the Knesset, which is the essence of the
principle of the rule of law in Israel, is based on that obligation of obedience that was
created in accordance with the proclamation, at the command of the People’s Council
[soon to become the Provisional State Council], which was the origin of the Knesset.
What, in fact, is the process that was created in accordance with the proclamation, and
which brought about the establishment of the State of Israel?
T he members of the People's Council, representatives of the Yishuv and of the Zionist
250 The Friday That Changed Destiny
