Page 265 - big friday
P. 265
H anna Bavli took care of bringing the Philharmonic Orchestra over to the Tel Aviv
Museum, and had the musicians seated on the second floor before people began to arrive.
She herself stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching the ceremony, while her husband
Yitzhak sat inside the hall, along with the other invitees. Ben-Gurion finished reading out
the Proclamation of Independence, and then the signal was given to the orchestra, which
started playing the anthem. It is not clear who signaled the orchestra to start playing.
Hanna Bavli said that it was she who went up to the second floor and gave the signal, but
it is possible that the orchestra received another cue from someone else. In any event,
the astonished audience in the hall had not expected the orchestra, and suddenly they
heard the strains of HaTikva emerging from the direction of the stairs and the windows.”
(From Rafi Mann’s blog, “Footnotes to History” [Hebrew])
The founding of the People’s Council
a nd the People’s Administration
People often asked how the two governing bodies of the Jewish population in Eretz
Yisrael were decided upon in the transitional period before the state was declared. Here is
the answer:
Discussions on this issue were held between the leadership of the Yishuv (the Jewish
community in Eretz Yisrael) and the Zionist executive bodies. On March 1, 1948, the
Jewish National Council decided that its executive body, the Board of Directors, along
with the Board of Directors of the Jewish Agency, would jointly represent the core of
the Provisional State Council. This Council was authorized to co-opt representatives of
groups and organizations not represented in these two constituent bodies.
Owing to British opposition to the establishment of Jewish national institutions so
long as the Mandate was still in effect, the Provisional State Council was at first called the
People’s Council. The composition of these bodies was proportionate to party strength
as determined in the previous elections, held in 1944. The Left included Mapai, the
largest party, and Mapam. The Right included the General Zionists, WIZO, and Aliya
Hadasha (representing mainly immigrants from Germany). The religious sector of the
population was represented by the Mizrahi and HaPo’el HaMizrahi, while immigrants
from Yemen were represented too. Some parties and bodies, which had boycotted the
previous elections, were not included at this stage. These included Agudat Yisrael, the
Revisionists, the Sephardim, and the Communist Party. These groups were introduced
into the People’s Council in April, 1948, such that the body now numbered 37 members:
Mapai – 10, General Zionists – 6, Mapam – 5, Mizrahi and HaPo’el HaMizrahi – 5,
Adudat Yisrael and Po’alei Agudat Yisrael – 3, Revisionists – 3, and one member for each
Endlessly Recounted 263
Museum, and had the musicians seated on the second floor before people began to arrive.
She herself stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching the ceremony, while her husband
Yitzhak sat inside the hall, along with the other invitees. Ben-Gurion finished reading out
the Proclamation of Independence, and then the signal was given to the orchestra, which
started playing the anthem. It is not clear who signaled the orchestra to start playing.
Hanna Bavli said that it was she who went up to the second floor and gave the signal, but
it is possible that the orchestra received another cue from someone else. In any event,
the astonished audience in the hall had not expected the orchestra, and suddenly they
heard the strains of HaTikva emerging from the direction of the stairs and the windows.”
(From Rafi Mann’s blog, “Footnotes to History” [Hebrew])
The founding of the People’s Council
a nd the People’s Administration
People often asked how the two governing bodies of the Jewish population in Eretz
Yisrael were decided upon in the transitional period before the state was declared. Here is
the answer:
Discussions on this issue were held between the leadership of the Yishuv (the Jewish
community in Eretz Yisrael) and the Zionist executive bodies. On March 1, 1948, the
Jewish National Council decided that its executive body, the Board of Directors, along
with the Board of Directors of the Jewish Agency, would jointly represent the core of
the Provisional State Council. This Council was authorized to co-opt representatives of
groups and organizations not represented in these two constituent bodies.
Owing to British opposition to the establishment of Jewish national institutions so
long as the Mandate was still in effect, the Provisional State Council was at first called the
People’s Council. The composition of these bodies was proportionate to party strength
as determined in the previous elections, held in 1944. The Left included Mapai, the
largest party, and Mapam. The Right included the General Zionists, WIZO, and Aliya
Hadasha (representing mainly immigrants from Germany). The religious sector of the
population was represented by the Mizrahi and HaPo’el HaMizrahi, while immigrants
from Yemen were represented too. Some parties and bodies, which had boycotted the
previous elections, were not included at this stage. These included Agudat Yisrael, the
Revisionists, the Sephardim, and the Communist Party. These groups were introduced
into the People’s Council in April, 1948, such that the body now numbered 37 members:
Mapai – 10, General Zionists – 6, Mapam – 5, Mizrahi and HaPo’el HaMizrahi – 5,
Adudat Yisrael and Po’alei Agudat Yisrael – 3, Revisionists – 3, and one member for each
Endlessly Recounted 263
