David Ben Gurion, then acting as the Jewish Agency Chairman, rose to the occasion and against all odds, on Friday, May 14, 1948, in the Independence Hall, in Tel Aviv, he proclaimed Israel’s independence, reestablishing the Jewish state after 2,000 years pause. In a Friday afternoon ceremony, Ben-Gurion pronounced the words “We hereby proclaim the establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine, to be called Israel,” prompting applause and tears from the crowd gathered at the museum. Ben-Gurion became Israel’s first premier.

Jews Propelled the Creation of the State of Israel