The Israeli Declaration of Independence

On November 29th, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed legislation that called for the separation of Palestine between Jews and Arabs, allowing the beginning of the creation of the state of Israel. One year later, on May 14th, 1948, soon to be Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion signed the Israeli Declaration of Independence and on that same day the U.S. President Harry Truman recognized Israel’s statehood. On March 4th, 1949, the UN Security Council voted 9-1 in favor of granting Israel membership into the United Nations, the only objecting country being Egypt. It has been through international support that Israel has stood for as long as it has and the creation of a Jewish state was one of the major products that came out of World War II. The rise of Israel and its Declaration of Independence exemplifies the maintaining of the pre-war Jewish belief in Zionism and the Jews having a state in Palestine. Zionism stayed as a key ideal after the war as many believed that the Holocaust was even more proof for the need of a Jewish state. Zionism also led into many of the other key ideals of Judaism after World War II like nationalism, political activism, and more. In turn, the rising nationalism among Jews in Israel also led to rising tensions between Israel and Palestine, a conflict that has been a major aspect of modern-day Zionism.