Page 47 - big friday
P. 47
A Felicitous Signing
T he signatories of the Declaration of Independence were asked,
on two separate occasions, in 1958 and in 1965, to recount their
experiences from 1948. Thirty-two of them acceded. The other
five were no longer alive at the time of the interviews.
I n 1958, the interviews were published in Maariv. The interviews held in 1965
appeared in the military publication BeMachaneh Nahal. The excerpts here are
from both collections.
T he signatories numbered 1,3,6,7,11,12,14,15,17,19-24, 26-32 all signed at the
ceremony on May 14.
T he signatories numbered 2,4,5,8-10,13,16,18,25 signed later on. On May 14,
nine of them were under siege in Jerusalem; one was in New York.
The interviews published in BeMachaneh Nahal were conducted by Shoshana
Milan. The Maariv journalist’s name is not mentioned.
1. David Ben-Gurion:
"I knew, these people would withstand it!"
Immersed in a sea of books, every moment of the past sorted and recorded in one of
his many books or journals, the former Prime Minister tries to recapture the scene,
from time to time resorting to some protocol or other to maintain accuracy:
"The text that was delivered to the meeting of the People's Council on Friday
morning was the final text that I had written on Thursday evening. At the meeting
itself, there weren't many disagreements. The Mapam members, the Revisionists and
the Communists expressed reservations with respect to a few sections. Earlier on, in
the wording committee, there had been an argument over the expression "Rock of
Israel". Rabbi Fishman demanded "Rock of Israel and its Redeemer", while Mr. Zisling
(Mapam) was firmly opposed to the expression, arguing that he did not believe in
God. I explained to them that each of us believes in the "Rock of Israel", giving it
his own interpretation, and ultimately the wording of the declaration was accepted
unanimously. Before that it had been decided that at the ceremony itself there would
be no announcements and arguments; they would wait for the first meeting of the
A State is Born 45
T he signatories of the Declaration of Independence were asked,
on two separate occasions, in 1958 and in 1965, to recount their
experiences from 1948. Thirty-two of them acceded. The other
five were no longer alive at the time of the interviews.
I n 1958, the interviews were published in Maariv. The interviews held in 1965
appeared in the military publication BeMachaneh Nahal. The excerpts here are
from both collections.
T he signatories numbered 1,3,6,7,11,12,14,15,17,19-24, 26-32 all signed at the
ceremony on May 14.
T he signatories numbered 2,4,5,8-10,13,16,18,25 signed later on. On May 14,
nine of them were under siege in Jerusalem; one was in New York.
The interviews published in BeMachaneh Nahal were conducted by Shoshana
Milan. The Maariv journalist’s name is not mentioned.
1. David Ben-Gurion:
"I knew, these people would withstand it!"
Immersed in a sea of books, every moment of the past sorted and recorded in one of
his many books or journals, the former Prime Minister tries to recapture the scene,
from time to time resorting to some protocol or other to maintain accuracy:
"The text that was delivered to the meeting of the People's Council on Friday
morning was the final text that I had written on Thursday evening. At the meeting
itself, there weren't many disagreements. The Mapam members, the Revisionists and
the Communists expressed reservations with respect to a few sections. Earlier on, in
the wording committee, there had been an argument over the expression "Rock of
Israel". Rabbi Fishman demanded "Rock of Israel and its Redeemer", while Mr. Zisling
(Mapam) was firmly opposed to the expression, arguing that he did not believe in
God. I explained to them that each of us believes in the "Rock of Israel", giving it
his own interpretation, and ultimately the wording of the declaration was accepted
unanimously. Before that it had been decided that at the ceremony itself there would
be no announcements and arguments; they would wait for the first meeting of the
A State is Born 45
