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People’s Administration offices (HaKirya), where clerks and secretaries, supervised by
Zeev Sharef, were busy preparing the buildings that would house the government offices.
A prolonged debate had preceded the decision to house the government offices in Tel
Aviv. Ben-Gurion himself had sought to establish the provisional capital of the state in
Kurnub (Mampsis) in the Negev, since he calculated this to be the furthest point from the
fighting fronts, but the idea was impractical. Golda Meir had her eyes set on the Carmel;
others suggested different locations. Eventually, the buildings of the German Colony in
Sarona (HaKirya) were chosen. The "Old Man" now visited the office that was intended
for the Prime Minister, and he appeared to be in a good mood. "From here you'll serve as
Prime Minister," Sharef told him, smilingly. When they moved on to the room that would
be Sharef 's own office, Ben-Gurion quipped, "And from here you'll run the country."
S ecretaries, typists and clerks were meanwhile in frantic preparations for the declaration
of independence. The text of the declaration was printed and duplicated. Dignitaries from
all sectors of the nation were invited to the declaration ceremony, which was to be held at
4pm at the Tel Aviv Museum, on Rothschild Boulevard. The venue was guarded as a strict
secret. Furniture, flags, and a portrait of Herzl were rushed to the museum; paintings and
other artifacts were hastily moved from the main hall to other rooms. The newly bared
walls were hung with pictures with symbolic meaning – including Minkowski's After the
Pogrom, Hirszenberg's Exile, and Chagall's Rabbi Holding Sefer Torah – all expressing
most forcefully the fate of the Jewish people.
A t 1pm the People’s Council approved the wording of the Declaration of Independence,
after adding one single word: the freedom of “language”, along with the other freedoms
that it proclaimed. Ben-Gurion went home to change clothes. He wore a white shirt, a
dark, official suit; a somber tie with a silver tie-pin. At 4pm his black car stopped at the
stairs leading to the entrance of the Tel Aviv Museum. The street teemed with onlookers,
journalists and photographers. Mysteriously, the venue where the state was to be declared
had become known to thousands of residents of Tel Aviv, and they flocked there to be
present – albeit at a distance – at the event that would turn them into a free nation.
Ben-Gurion and [his wife] Paula got out of the car. A policeman, stationed on the
sidewalk, saluted. For a moment Ben-Gurion stopped in his tracks, drew himself tight
and returned a proud, vigorous salute. Then he climbed the nine steps leading to the main
entrance of the museum, and went inside.
Michael Bar-Zohar, Ben-Gurion – Biography. Am Oved, 1977; pp. 744-748
A State is Born 25
Zeev Sharef, were busy preparing the buildings that would house the government offices.
A prolonged debate had preceded the decision to house the government offices in Tel
Aviv. Ben-Gurion himself had sought to establish the provisional capital of the state in
Kurnub (Mampsis) in the Negev, since he calculated this to be the furthest point from the
fighting fronts, but the idea was impractical. Golda Meir had her eyes set on the Carmel;
others suggested different locations. Eventually, the buildings of the German Colony in
Sarona (HaKirya) were chosen. The "Old Man" now visited the office that was intended
for the Prime Minister, and he appeared to be in a good mood. "From here you'll serve as
Prime Minister," Sharef told him, smilingly. When they moved on to the room that would
be Sharef 's own office, Ben-Gurion quipped, "And from here you'll run the country."
S ecretaries, typists and clerks were meanwhile in frantic preparations for the declaration
of independence. The text of the declaration was printed and duplicated. Dignitaries from
all sectors of the nation were invited to the declaration ceremony, which was to be held at
4pm at the Tel Aviv Museum, on Rothschild Boulevard. The venue was guarded as a strict
secret. Furniture, flags, and a portrait of Herzl were rushed to the museum; paintings and
other artifacts were hastily moved from the main hall to other rooms. The newly bared
walls were hung with pictures with symbolic meaning – including Minkowski's After the
Pogrom, Hirszenberg's Exile, and Chagall's Rabbi Holding Sefer Torah – all expressing
most forcefully the fate of the Jewish people.
A t 1pm the People’s Council approved the wording of the Declaration of Independence,
after adding one single word: the freedom of “language”, along with the other freedoms
that it proclaimed. Ben-Gurion went home to change clothes. He wore a white shirt, a
dark, official suit; a somber tie with a silver tie-pin. At 4pm his black car stopped at the
stairs leading to the entrance of the Tel Aviv Museum. The street teemed with onlookers,
journalists and photographers. Mysteriously, the venue where the state was to be declared
had become known to thousands of residents of Tel Aviv, and they flocked there to be
present – albeit at a distance – at the event that would turn them into a free nation.
Ben-Gurion and [his wife] Paula got out of the car. A policeman, stationed on the
sidewalk, saluted. For a moment Ben-Gurion stopped in his tracks, drew himself tight
and returned a proud, vigorous salute. Then he climbed the nine steps leading to the main
entrance of the museum, and went inside.
Michael Bar-Zohar, Ben-Gurion – Biography. Am Oved, 1977; pp. 744-748
A State is Born 25
