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ement, declared the creation of a new legal administrative system that was meant
to operate from the moment that the British Mandate for Palestine expired at midnight
between May 14-15, 1948. The People’s Council – a body that was in fact devoid of any
official governmental character - authorized itself to serve as a "Provisional State Council"
that was supposed to stand at the helm of the new state. This presumption of founding a
state might have remained within the realm of aspiration and nothing more, had there not
been the additional criterion of social effectiveness. It was the following days that proved
the effectiveness of the proclamation in practice, as expressed in the social agreement of
the public in the State of Israel to accept upon itself the directives of the Provisional State
Council. Thus the Council assumed an official, governmental character and the nation, as
well as the world at large, was shown that a new state had arisen.
T he proclamation may be divided, in terms of content, into three sections. The
main section is the second one, which states, "Accordingly we […] hereby declare the
establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Yisrael" and concludes, "to be called 'Israel'." In
the few lines that comprise this second section, the proclamation makes some important
statements that have binding legal significance: the fact of the establishment of the state is
set down; its name is specified; and the main authorities of the state are identified as the
Provisional State Council and the Provisional Government.
T he setting down of the establishment of the state as a fact was meant to clarify that
the new state would regard itself as being entitled to demand that every person or body
obey the directives of its institutions. As to the state institutions it was clear from the
proclamation, in this section, that the supreme institution would be the Provisional State
Council, until elections could be held for the formative gathering that would replace this
provisional council. This supreme status was clarified by the first "law" [referred to as
a "Gazette"] passed by the Provisional State Council on the same day and at the same
session where the Declaration of Independence was signed. It stated that "the Provisional
State Council is the legislative authority." Once the formative gathering was chosen in
elections (held in January, 1949), this body passed the Transition Law of 1949, in which it
transformed itself into the first Knesset. Thus the chain of authority was maintained, and
hence it is clear that the origin of the authority of the Knesset to legislate laws is to be found
in the legislative authority of the Provisional State Council, which in turn was grounded
in the Gazette that it passed by virtue of the clause in the Proclamation of Independence.
However, as we know, the Proclamation did not suffice with the stipulation of "dry"
legal directives. As befitting an historic document that was meant to present the vision
and faith of the founding fathers as to their vision for the state, the Proclamation includes
a preamble presenting fundamental beliefs and their realization. The first part of the
Proclamation (up to the words, "on the strength of the resolution of the United Nations
General Assembly"), representing the preamble, describes the history of the Jewish
People and the horror of the Holocaust that befell it. The preamble emphasizes the Jewish
character of the state, the nation's past, and its "natural right […] to be masters of their
own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State." In terms of content, the
The Declaration at a Distance 251
to operate from the moment that the British Mandate for Palestine expired at midnight
between May 14-15, 1948. The People’s Council – a body that was in fact devoid of any
official governmental character - authorized itself to serve as a "Provisional State Council"
that was supposed to stand at the helm of the new state. This presumption of founding a
state might have remained within the realm of aspiration and nothing more, had there not
been the additional criterion of social effectiveness. It was the following days that proved
the effectiveness of the proclamation in practice, as expressed in the social agreement of
the public in the State of Israel to accept upon itself the directives of the Provisional State
Council. Thus the Council assumed an official, governmental character and the nation, as
well as the world at large, was shown that a new state had arisen.
T he proclamation may be divided, in terms of content, into three sections. The
main section is the second one, which states, "Accordingly we […] hereby declare the
establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Yisrael" and concludes, "to be called 'Israel'." In
the few lines that comprise this second section, the proclamation makes some important
statements that have binding legal significance: the fact of the establishment of the state is
set down; its name is specified; and the main authorities of the state are identified as the
Provisional State Council and the Provisional Government.
T he setting down of the establishment of the state as a fact was meant to clarify that
the new state would regard itself as being entitled to demand that every person or body
obey the directives of its institutions. As to the state institutions it was clear from the
proclamation, in this section, that the supreme institution would be the Provisional State
Council, until elections could be held for the formative gathering that would replace this
provisional council. This supreme status was clarified by the first "law" [referred to as
a "Gazette"] passed by the Provisional State Council on the same day and at the same
session where the Declaration of Independence was signed. It stated that "the Provisional
State Council is the legislative authority." Once the formative gathering was chosen in
elections (held in January, 1949), this body passed the Transition Law of 1949, in which it
transformed itself into the first Knesset. Thus the chain of authority was maintained, and
hence it is clear that the origin of the authority of the Knesset to legislate laws is to be found
in the legislative authority of the Provisional State Council, which in turn was grounded
in the Gazette that it passed by virtue of the clause in the Proclamation of Independence.
However, as we know, the Proclamation did not suffice with the stipulation of "dry"
legal directives. As befitting an historic document that was meant to present the vision
and faith of the founding fathers as to their vision for the state, the Proclamation includes
a preamble presenting fundamental beliefs and their realization. The first part of the
Proclamation (up to the words, "on the strength of the resolution of the United Nations
General Assembly"), representing the preamble, describes the history of the Jewish
People and the horror of the Holocaust that befell it. The preamble emphasizes the Jewish
character of the state, the nation's past, and its "natural right […] to be masters of their
own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State." In terms of content, the
The Declaration at a Distance 251
