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Gadna (Hebrew: גדנ״ע) is an Israeli military program that prepares young people for military service in the Israel Defense Forces. It was established before the foundation of the State of Israel and was anchored in law in 1949. Today it is a one-week program of discipline and military training usually under commanders serving with the Nahal infantry brigade. Gadna hosts an estimated 19,000 Israeli youth annually, as well as numerous foreign youths.[1]
History
David Ben-Gurion visiting a Gadna base in Be'er Ora (1957)
Gadna Sde Boker
Gadna, an abbreviation for Gdudei No'ar (גדודי נוער; lit. youth battalions), was an organization for youth created before the Israeli Declaration of Independence.[2] Alongside preliminary training for military service, Gadna clubs taught Zionist history, promoted love of the Land of Israel and encouraged members to engage in farming and volunteerism. Social activities included readings of ideological material from Labor Zionist newspapers and publications.[3]
The program was established in the early 1940s by the Haganah, which became the core of the IDF. Thousands of Gadna members fought as child soldiers in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.[4] The Jonathan Company was formed mostly of Gadna members.[5]
In June 1949, the Knesset passed a law requiring men and women who were physically and mentally fit to serve in the military from the age of 18. The law also provided for the establishment of the Gadna semi-military framework to prepare high school students for military service.[6]
Insignia
The commanders, the "Mefakdim" or "Mefakdot" (מפקדים or מפקדות, masculine and feminine plurals), who are sergeants and officers, wear either the green beret of the Nahal infantry brigade, or the black beret if they are not part of the Nahal. Both Nahal and non-Nahal commanders wear the Gadna tag on their left shoulder on the Aleph uniform (the representative uniform). The commanders wear a brown braid on their left shoulders. Trainees in Gadna are issued uniforms consisting of fatigues or B uniform ("Bet Uniforms", מדי ב) pants and a shirt, and a military belt. Trainees do not receive military shoes. Upon arrival, if they do not have a hat, trainees are given hats which must be worn at all times. Trainees with long hair, both boys and girls, must always tie their hair.
Living in army tents or barracks, the youth are organized into squads. The squad has two leaders chosen by the commander. The highest youth is taken under the base officer's wing and wears a braid on their left shoulder, or multi-colored (striped) epaulets. If they wear the braid they wear the same color epaulet as the rest of their unit. The second highest youth commander is the sergeant. They wear special epaulets, usually black, and they never wear a braid.
Structure
The Gadna program is subordinate to the Magen division of the Education and Youth Corps.
Bases
Numerous bases were related to the Gadna program over the years, although as of 2020, only 2 operational Gadna bases remain:
Sdeh Boker Gadna Base, in the Negev desert
Tzalmon Gadna Base, in the Lower Galilee
Controversies
While the Gadna program has been criticized as "overly militaristic" by certain educators and professors in Israel,[1] the Education and Youth Corps has prepared a program which would see more militaristic and combatant values inserted into the lessons conducted in the program, although less emphasis will be put on the physical aspect of the program.[7]********Gadna pre-army program tries to restore IDF's appeal
About a quarter of future inductees get their first taste of army life in 11th grade.
By SHELLY PAZ
APRIL 13, 2008 00:54
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gadna 88 (photo credit: )
gadna 88
(photo credit: )
"It always amazes me to see how they become soldiers within two minutes. We explain to them that the uniforms they wear are real uniforms, uniforms that are worn by soldiers who fight or even die in them." The speaker is Maj. Keren Kamerinsky, 32, commander of the Tzalmon Gadna base, near Karmiel, which simulates boot camp training five days a week, year-round, for 320 teenagers at a time. Kamerinsky a mother of two from Kibbutz Beit Zera, on the southern shore of Lake Kinneret, described her staff's efforts to motivate the future soldiers to serve in the IDF, speaking at the end of another week of training youths who will be drafted within two years. About a quarter of future inductees get their first taste of army life during a weeklong Gadna program while they are in 11th grade. Gadna, an acronym for Hebrew Youth Battalions, was established in the early 1940s by the Hagana, which after independence became the core of the IDF. Thousands of Gadna members fought in the War of Independence. Until 1990, Gadna focused on instilling patriotic values in Israeli youth and encouraging Diaspora youth to make aliya. Nowadays it concentrates on stemming the increasing draft-dodging by Israelis. Thus, the army sends youth instructors into schools starting around the 10th grade. These soldiers provide pupils with information about military service, the roles they can play, the recruitment process and more. If the schools' principals approve it, the pupils go on a "Gadna Week" in 11th grade. During their last year in high school, they are prepared for filling out IDF forms for the units to which they would like to be assigned. Fewer and fewer high schools send their 11th-graders on Gadna weeks. Sending all youngsters on a Gadna week, authorities believe, would help curb the draft-dodging and would restore the fading attraction of military service. Besides Tzalmon, two other IDF bases operate under the Education and Youth Corps: the Sde Boker base in the South, which can accommodate 450 pupils a week, and Juara base, near Yokne'am, which can accommodate 220. The Tzalmon staff emphasizes that the program is not limited to physical training such as camping, night treks and the use of weapons; a great part of the week is devoted to learning about the army - its units, combat ethics, commitment to bringing home captive soldiers and, above all, the importance of serving in the IDF. "We want them to leave here understanding what happens if they don't enlist. My staff speaks with them a lot on this issue, even if it means one-on-one talks," Kamerinsky said. "Our goal is to motivate Israeli youth to aspire to a meaningful service in the IDF. We do it by giving them their first positive experience in the military system." Outside Kamerinsky's office, pupils from Kfar Saba's Galili High School were drilling for a military ceremony, which their parents were invited to attend. The school's principal, Dr. Rami Amitai - a retired IDF colonel - has turned this event into a school tradition. Meanwhile, 79 pupils from WIZO Rehovot and 80 from Ankori Rishon Lezion, who spent the week in Tzalmon as well, were busy packing up memories into their fashionable backpacks before heading home. Donning uniforms was not the most natural thing for them - nor was the outdoor camping. "I was shocked on the first day we arrived here. We got off the buses and right away they started ordering us around and told us to stand in two lines. I didn't think it would be so serious," Galili student Nirit Teller, 18, said Thursday as her team was tidying their room in preparation for the morning inspection. "When we first came here, our commander told us to drop our bags and to run and stand at attention. None of us knew what 'attention' was, let alone what was it meant to 'drop and give her 20,'" said fellow Galili student Michal Fedler, 16, shortly after firing a gun for the first time in her life. "It was very scary at first, because shooting is something you don't know anything about and only soldiers do. When the commander ordered [us to] fire, I took my time, aimed at the target. I didn't do badly at all," Fedler said, sounding proud as she held up her target sheet. "Now I feel like enlisting in the army." According to the Education Ministry, out of the 60,000 Israeli 11th-graders designated for mandatory military service, 30,000 were supposed to go on the weeklong Gadna program during this school year. However, only 15,000 will go, due to the long teachers' strike at the beginning of the year. On average, some 19,000 11th-graders go on a Gadna week annually. The Education Ministry said in a statement, "The training is offered to principals of high schools in the periphery, high schools that have high numbers of new immigrants, high schools with a low percentage of actual enlistment, high schools that embrace the preparatory program for serving in the IDF, and others." The ministry did not detail the cost of a Gadna week per student as the The Jerusalem Post requested. Most 11th-graders do not attend a Gadna week, and this means of motivating teens to volunteer for the demanding and dangerous IDF units is being criticized as well as being praised. "The Gadna is part of an entire system that prepares the youth for their enlistment, but more than that, it prepares them for a certain worldview of conflict. The Gadna is also a socialization system. I think it is not the place of the army to educate our children," Prof. Daniel Bar-Tal of Tel Aviv University's School of Education told the Post. "Today's reality is different from the Israeli reality in the '50s. The reality of the army entering schools, and even kindergartens, is unique to Israel. The military echelon in Israel has unlimited influence on Israeli society. The Winograd Committee [that investigated the Second Lebanon War] pointed to this problem, which creates an unhealthy society [in which] members know very well how to shoot and fight but are paralyzed when it comes to solving the conflict through alternative means such as a peace process," Bar-Tal said. The fourth day of Gadna was an outdoor camping day for pupils from WIZO Rehovot and Ankori Rishon Lezion. They were placed in a field, isolated from the rest of the base by a chain-link fence. Throughout the day, they learned how to erect tents, in which they slept, and how to function in the field. To make the experience more realistic, they ate battle rations that included the traditional canned beef, canned humus and canned chocolate spread. They drank out of their canteens, went on a night trek and had to deal with the North's nighttime cold. "This group in its majority is capable of sleeping outdoors. We decide whether this experience will break their spirits or not, and if we think they are incapable [of roughing it], we allow some of them or all of them to sleep indoors," said Lt. Netta Alush, 22, commander of the Nahshon Company - one of two at the base. "Clearly our goal is not to break their spirits. In general, most difficulties derive from a hard time adapting - only a very few are a result of utter contempt," she said. "I have a hard time receiving orders from other people. This is not like when you refuse to do something at home or at school. There, you don't need to drop for 20 push-ups," said Sapir Khalaf, 16, a WIZO Rehovot student, in summarizing the week - which was hard on her in all aspects. "I don't intend to serve in the army. I will find a way to be exempted. I don't know how, but I'll lose weight if there is no other choice," Khalaf said. The army does not recruit youngsters who are extremely under- or overweight. Nonetheless, most of those who attend Gadna find it useful to have a taste of what lies ahead. "The shooting practice is the highlight of this week, because during the week, we keep doing the same things, like getting into these uniforms, cleaning and tidying the rooms. Shooting is something I have done so far only on the computer at home," said Yotam Wolf, 17, a Galili student. "I didn't do so well in the shooting practice - but the experience is what matters." Yotam Lazar, 16, another Galili student, said that even if the week went badly, he would still enlist in a combat unit. "I am proud of myself, and this week strengthened my desire to be a combatant," he said. "The bottom line is that our principal is a retired military man who still goes on reserve duty and makes enlistment for mandatory military service a very high priority. He wants to infuse us with the army's values and discipline, and he does it well," said Din Zusman, 17, also of Galili. Out of Kfar Saba's four high schools, theirs is the only one that still goes on a Gadna week. The Kfar Saba Municipality refused to let the Post interview the high schools' principals. And the parents? They're happy someone teaches their teenagers some discipline, and see the Gadna as a fun social activity that their children will remember for the rest of their lives. However, when asked about enlisting in combat units, they sang a different tune. "This week made her happy, and since Michal is our eldest, this week was useful for us, too, because we really knew nothing about it before," said Allan Fedler, who made aliya from South Africa when Michal was two. "As a parent, it will break my heart if she decides to serve in a combat unit, but I'll support any decision she makes," he said. Ilana Nissani was glad her son, Idan, had the chance to taste army life in advance and collect some lifelong memories. "But I don't want him to serve in a combat unit. I don't think I will be able to handle it," she said. "Unfortunately today's IDF is not the same IDF of 20 years ago, and the evidence is the 'flat screens' commanders of the Second Lebanon War, who stayed behind moved and soldiers as if they were toy soldiers. The youth are not stupid, and they say what is on their minds and insist on it. Din has knee problems, so he won't be a full combatant, but he will serve in other significant roles, that's for sure," Zusman's mother, Michal, said in a tone of relief. Israel's War of Independence (1947-1949)
In human terms, the War of Independence was Israel's costliest war, with over 6,000 Israelis were killed and 15,000 wounded. The war consisted of 39 separate operations, fought from the borders of Lebanon to the Sinai Peninsula and Eilat.
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In December 1946 - at the first post-war Zionist Congress in Basle - David Ben Gurion assumed the defense portfolio, including responsibility for the Haganah, which at the time concentrated on the struggle against the British.
Although British restrictions, searches and detentions made the building of a clandestine force - with armor and artillery, air and sea power - well-nigh impossible, Ben-Gurion decided early on that this was the decisive task: to build up a force in preparation for an assault by the regular armies of the Arab countries, which the yishuv would have to face alone, without outside help.
He found the Haganah woefully ill prepared for such an eventuality and set about energetically to rectify this. Since import and deployment of heavy weapons were not practicable as long as the British held sway over Palestine, it was decided that manpower should be readied in the country and equipment purchased abroad - to be "married" in time to throw back an Arab assault, if not to prevent it; in time for 15 May 1948, the day envisaged for the termination of the British Mandate and the day after Israel would declare its independence.
The War of Independence (1947-49)
The war was fought along the entire, long border of the country: against Lebanon and Syria in the north; Iraq and Transjordan - renamed Jordan during the war - in the east; Egypt, assisted by contingents from the Sudan - in the south; and Palestinians and volunteers from Arab countries in the interior of the country.
It was the bloodiest of Israel's wars. It cost 6,373 killed in action (from pre-state days until 20 July 1949) almost 1% of the yishuv (the Jewish community) - although that figure includes quite a number of new immigrants and some foreign volunteers.
In the First Phase (29 November 1947 - 1 April 1948), it was the Palestinian Arabs who took the offensive, with the help of volunteers from neighboring countries; the yishuv had little success in limiting the war - it suffered severe casualties and disruption of passage along most of the major highways.
In the Second Phase (1 April - 15 May) the Haganah took the initiative, and in six weeks was able to turn the tables - capturing, inter alia, the Arab sections of Tiberias, Haifa and later also Safed and Acre, temporarily opening the road to Jerusalem and gaining control of much of the territory alotted to the Jewish State under the UN Resolution.
The Third Phase (15 May - 19 July), considered the critical one, opened with the simultaneous, coordinated assault on the fledgling state by five regular Arab armies from neighboring countries, with an overwhelming superiority of heavy equipment - armor, artillery and airforce.
On 31 May the Haganah was renamed the "Israel Defence Forces". The IDF suffered initial setbacks, including the loss of the Etzion Bloc in Judea, the area of Mishmar Hayarden in the north and Yad Mordehai in the south, but after three weeks was able to halt the offensive, to stabilize the front and even initiate some local offensive operations.
The Fourth Phase (19 July 1948 - 20 July, 1949) was characterized by Israeli initiatives: Operation Yoav, in October, cleared the road to the Negev, culminating in the capture of Be'er Sheva; Operation Hiram, at the end of October, resulted in the capture of the Upper Galilee; Operation Horev in December 1948 and Operation Uvda in March 1949, completed the capture of the Negev, which had been alotted to the Jewish State by the United Nations.
Simultaneously, the Arab countries signed Armistice Agreements: first came Egypt - 24 February 1949; followed by Lebanon - 23 March; Jordan - 3 April; and Syria - 20 July. Only Iraq did not sign an armistice agreement with Israel. It preferred to withdraw its troops and hand over its sector to the Arab Legion of Jordan.
In the end Israel not only ejected the invading Arab forces - it also captured and held some 5,000 km2 over and above the areas allocated to it by the United Nations.
In the middle of the War of Independence, the IDF was born, not on 15 May, but two weeks later; for two more weeks Ben-Gurion negotiated with the "dissident" armed organizations, the Etzel and Lehi, convincing them to disband voluntarily before he disbanded them in the Order of the Establishment of the IDF on 31 May 1948. That order provided for only one armed force, subordinate to the constitutional government. There was complete continuity between the Haganah and the IDF: Ya'acov Dori, the Chief of Staff; the members of the General Staff; the commanders from brigade-level downwards - all were automatically confirmed in their appointments.
At the end of the war the IDF had over 100,000 full-time men and women in uniform, as compared to the mere handful of full-time soldiers at its beginning. In addition to 12 brigades, mostly infantry, it had several regiments of artillery. The first armored regiments were equipped with light armored vehicles, some captured, some "requisitioned" from the departing British troops; and a few tanks - two Cromwells "bought" from the withdrawing British and some reconstituted from American scrap.
The Navy consisted at first of reconverted illegal immigrant vessels. There were the elements of an Air Force - Spitfires and Messerschmidts, acquired mainly in Czechoslovakia, in addition to the light civilian planes which the Haganah had used for reconnaissance and communications purposes. Some World War II US war surplus bombers were bought as scrap. These carried out their first "strategic attack" on Cairo, en route to Israel, even before reaching their homebase. Armed with a Baedeker tourist guide, one of them bombed and strafed Abdeen Palace: rudimentary, to be sure, but entirely unexpected and, therefore, psychologically effective.
As soon as the armistice agreements were signed and the immediate danger had passed, the IDF - except for a small nucleus - was not only demobilized, but effectively disbanded. The new state had urgent tasks which required all its resources, above all that of absorbing the flood of new immigrants, who at last were able to come "home". An attempt to keep the demobilized soldiers in some sort of reserve framework failed. However, for the time being there was little inclination on the Arab side to renew full-scale fighting. Not that they had come to face reality and recognized Israel - far from it; but they did realize that to fight against Israel required thorough preparation.
In the meantime they found what was considered a perfect tool to show their own people that the war was not over yet and at the same time both to harrass Israel and embarrass her. Palestinian fedayun (suicide troops) infiltrated across the long and ill-protected border - and it should be recalled that no place in Israel was far from the border: infiltrations for the purpose of stealing farm equipment were followed by the laying of mines, the killing of individuals, and wholesale massacres. The fedayun were trained, equipped and paid for by Egyptian Intelligence, although they operated mainly from bases in Jordan, so that Jordan would bear the brunt of Israel's retaliation, which inevitably followed. And each time Israel retaliated, the Security Council condemned it; condemnation of an Arab government had long since become an impossibility, because of the Soviet veto.
The infiltrations - however painful, militarily and diplomatically - were no more than a diversion from the main concern of the IDF: preparations for the second round.
Yigael Yadin, who had taken over from Ya'akov Dori as Chief of the General Staff, devoted his energy to organizing the reserves and streamlining the command structure - elements of which remain in effect to this day. At the same time, particular attention was paid to the development of armor. Israel's numerical inferiority to its neighbors and potential enemies; its realization that because of the lack of strategic depth it was bound to transfer fighting as soon as possible to enemy territory and its proven advantage at swift, often improvised manoeuvers - all pointed to the need for armor. The newly found alliance with France at the time of the Suez crisis provided the unique opportunity to equip a major part of the IDF with French-made tanks. This "miracle" occurred at a moment of desperation, when no other country, East or West, was willing to supply Israel with arms, whereas countries from both East and West rushed to offer their wares to the Arabs. Particularly worrisome was the Czech- Egyptian arms deal, which threatened Israel with a whole range of state-of-the-art Russian hardware.***** The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel[2] (Hebrew: הכרזה על הקמת מדינת ישראל), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 (5 Iyar 5708) by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization,[a][3] Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, and soon to be first Prime Minister of Israel.[4] It declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, which would come into effect on termination of the British Mandate at midnight that day.[5][1] The event is celebrated annually in Israel as Independence Day, a national holiday on 5 Iyar of every year according to the Hebrew calendar.
Background
The possibility of a Jewish homeland in Palestine had been a goal of Zionist organizations since the late 19th century. In 1917 British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour stated in a letter to British Jewish community leader Walter, Lord Rothschild that:
His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.[6]
Through this letter, which became known as the Balfour Declaration, British government policy officially endorsed Zionism. After World War I, the United Kingdom was given a mandate for Palestine, which it had conquered from the Ottomans during the war. In 1937 the Peel Commission suggested partitioning Mandate Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state, though the proposal was rejected as unworkable by the government and was at least partially to blame for the renewal of the 1936–39 Arab revolt.
The UN partition plan
In the face of increasing violence after World War II, the British handed the issue over to the recently established United Nations. The result was Resolution 181(II), a plan to partition Palestine into Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem. The Jewish state was to receive around 56% of the land area of Mandate Palestine, encompassing 82% of the Jewish population, though it would be separated from Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by most of the Jewish population, but rejected by much of the Arab populace. On 29 November 1947, the resolution to recommend to the United Kingdom, as the mandatory Power for Palestine, and to all other Members of the United Nations the adoption and implementation, with regard to the future government of Palestine, of the Plan of Partition with Economic Union was put to a vote in the United Nations General Assembly.[7]
The result was 33 to 13 in favour of the resolution, with 10 abstentions. Resolution 181(II): PART I: Future constitution and government of Palestine: A. TERMINATION OF MANDATE, PARTITION AND INDEPENDENCE: Clause 3 provides:
Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem, ... shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948.
The Arab countries (all of which had opposed the plan) proposed to query the International Court of Justice on the competence of the General Assembly to partition a country, but the resolution was rejected.
Drafting the text
The first draft of the declaration was made by Zvi Berenson, the legal advisor of the Histadrut trade union and later a Justice of the Supreme Court, at the request of Pinchas Rosen. A revised second draft was made by three lawyers, A. Beham, A. Hintzheimer and Z.E. Baker, and was framed by a committee including David Remez, Pinchas Rosen, Haim-Moshe Shapira, Moshe Sharett and Aharon Zisling.[8] A second committee meeting, which included David Ben-Gurion, Yehuda Leib Maimon, Sharett and Zisling produced the final text.[9]
Minhelet HaAm Vote
On 12 May 1948, the Minhelet HaAm (Hebrew: מנהלת העם, lit. People's Administration) was convened to vote on declaring independence.[10][11] Three of the thirteen members were absent, with Yehuda Leib Maimon and Yitzhak Gruenbaum being blocked in besieged Jerusalem, while Yitzhak-Meir Levin was in the United States.
The meeting started at 13:45 and ended after midnight. The decision was between accepting the American proposal for a truce, or declaring independence. The latter option was put to a vote, with six of the ten members present supporting it:
For: David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Sharett (Mapai); Peretz Bernstein (General Zionists); Haim-Moshe Shapira (Hapoel HaMizrachi); Mordechai Bentov, Aharon Zisling (Mapam).
Against: Eliezer Kaplan, David Remez (Mapai); Pinchas Rosen (New Aliyah Party); Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit (Sephardim and Oriental Communities).
Chaim Weizmann, the Chairman of the World Zionist Organization,[a] and soon to be first President of Israel, endorsed the decision, after reportedly asking "What are they waiting for, the idiots?"[8]
Final wording
The draft text was submitted for approval to a meeting of Moetzet HaAm at the JNF building in Tel Aviv on 14 May. The meeting started at 13:50 and ended at 15:00, an hour before the declaration was due to be made. Despite ongoing disagreements, members of the Council unanimously voted in favour of the final text. During the process, there were two major debates, centering on the issues of borders and religion.
Borders
See also: Borders of Israel
On the day of its proclamation, Eliahu Epstein wrote to Harry S. Truman that the state had been proclaimed "within the frontiers approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its Resolution of November 29, 1947".
The borders were not specified in the Declaration, although its 14th paragraph indicated a willingness to cooperate in the implementation of the UN Partition Plan. The original draft had declared that the borders would be decided by the UN partition plan. While this was supported by Rosen and Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit, it was opposed by Ben-Gurion and Zisling, with Ben-Gurion stating, "We accepted the UN Resolution, but the Arabs did not. They are preparing to make war on us. If we defeat them and capture western Galilee or territory on both sides of the road to Jerusalem, these areas will become part of the state. Why should we obligate ourselves to accept boundaries that in any case the Arabs don't accept?"[8] The inclusion of the designation of borders in the text was dropped after the provisional government of Israel, the Minhelet HaAm, voted 5–4 against it.[9] The Revisionists, committed to a Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan River (that is, including Transjordan), wanted the phrase "within its historic borders" included, but were unsuccessful.
Religion
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The second major issue was over the inclusion of God in the last section of the document, with the draft using the phrase "and placing our trust in the Almighty". The two rabbis, Shapira and Yehuda Leib Maimon, argued for its inclusion, saying that it could not be omitted, with Shapira supporting the wording "God of Israel" or "the Almighty and Redeemer of Israel".[8] It was strongly opposed by Zisling, a member of the secularist Mapam. In the end the phrase "Rock of Israel" was used, which could be interpreted as either referring to God, or the land of Eretz Israel, Ben-Gurion saying "Each of us, in his own way, believes in the 'Rock of Israel' as he conceives it. I should like to make one request: Don't let me put this phrase to a vote." Although its use was still opposed by Zisling, the phrase was accepted without a vote.
Name
The writers also had to decide on the name for the new state. Eretz Israel, Ever (from the name Eber), Judea, and Zion were all suggested, as were Ziona, Ivriya and Herzliya.[12] Judea and Zion were rejected because, according to the partition plan, Jerusalem (Zion) and most of the Judaean Mountains would be outside the new state.[13] Ben-Gurion put forward "Israel" and it passed by a vote of 6–3.[14] Official documents released in April 2013 by the State Archive of Israel show that days before the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948, officials were still debating about what the new country would be called in Arabic: Palestine (فلسطين, Filasṭīn), Zion (صهيون, Ṣahyūn) or Israel (إسرائيل, ’Isrā’īl). Two assumptions were made: "That an Arab state was about to be established alongside the Jewish one in keeping with the UN's partition resolution the year before, and that the Jewish state would include a large Arab minority whose feelings needed to be taken into account". In the end, the officials rejected the name Palestine because they thought that would be the name of the new Arab state and could cause confusion so they opted for the most straightforward option of Israel.[15]
Other items
At the meeting on 14 May, several other members of Moetzet HaAm suggested additions to the document. Meir Vilner wanted it to denounce the British Mandate and military but Sharett said it was out of place. Meir Argov pushed to mention the Displaced Persons camps in Europe and to guarantee freedom of language. Ben-Gurion agreed with the latter but noted that Hebrew should be the main language of the state.
The debate over wording did not end completely even after the Declaration had been made. Declaration signer Meir David Loewenstein later claimed, "It ignored our sole right to Eretz Israel, which is based on the covenant of the Lord with Abraham, our father, and repeated promises in the Tanach. It ignored the aliya of the Ramban and the students of the Vilna Gaon and the Ba'al Shem Tov, and the [rights of] Jews who lived in the 'Old Yishuv'."[16]
Declaration ceremony
A celebratory crowd outside the Tel Aviv Museum, located in 16 Rothschild Boulevard, to hear the Declaration
The invitation to the ceremony, dated 13 May 1948.
David Ben-Gurion declaring independence beneath a large portrait of Theodor Herzl, founder of modern Zionism
The ceremony was held in the Tel Aviv Museum (today known as Independence Hall) but was not widely publicised as it was feared that the British Authorities might attempt to prevent it or that the Arab armies might invade earlier than expected. An invitation was sent out by messenger on the morning of 14 May telling recipients to arrive at 15:30 and to keep the event a secret. The event started at 16:00 (a time chosen so as not to breach the sabbath) and was broadcast live as the first transmission of the new radio station Kol Yisrael.[17]
The final draft of the declaration was typed at the Jewish National Fund building following its approval earlier in the day. Ze'ev Sherf, who stayed at the building in order to deliver the text, had forgotten to arrange transport for himself. Ultimately, he had to flag down a passing car and ask the driver (who was driving a borrowed car without a license) to take him to the ceremony. Sherf's request was initially refused but he managed to persuade the driver to take him.[8] The car was stopped by a policeman for speeding while driving across the city though a ticket was not issued after it was explained that he was delaying the declaration of independence.[14] Sherf arrived at the museum at 15:59.[18]
At 16:00, Ben-Gurion opened the ceremony by banging his gavel on the table, prompting a spontaneous rendition of Hatikvah, soon to be Israel's national anthem, from the 250 guests.[14] On the wall behind the podium hung a picture of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, and two flags, later to become the official flag of Israel.
After telling the audience "I shall now read to you the scroll of the Establishment of the State, which has passed its first reading by the National Council", Ben-Gurion proceeded to read out the declaration, taking 16 minutes, ending with the words "Let us accept the Foundation Scroll of the Jewish State by rising" and calling on Rabbi Fishman to recite the Shehecheyanu blessing.[14]
Signatories
Ben Gurion (left) signing the Declaration of Independence held by Moshe Sharett
As leader of the Yishuv, David Ben-Gurion was the first person to sign. The declaration was due to be signed by all 37 members of Moetzet HaAm. However, twelve members could not attend, with eleven of them trapped in besieged Jerusalem and one abroad. The remaining 25 signatories present were called up in alphabetical order to sign, leaving spaces for those absent. Although a space was left for him between the signatures of Eliyahu Dobkin and Meir Vilner, Zerach Warhaftig signed at the top of the next column, leading to speculation that Vilner's name had been left alone to isolate him, or to stress that even a communist had agreed with the declaration.[14] However, Warhaftig later denied this, stating that a space had been left for him (as he was one of the signatories trapped in Jerusalem) where a Hebraicised form of his name would have fitted alphabetically, but he insisted on signing under his actual name so as to honour his father's memory and so moved down two spaces. He and Vilner would be the last surviving signatories, and remained close for the rest of their lives. Of the signatories, two were women (Golda Meir and Rachel Cohen-Kagan).[19]
When Herzl Rosenblum, a journalist, was called up to sign, Ben-Gurion instructed him to sign under the name Herzl Vardi, his pen name, as he wanted more Hebrew names on the document. Although Rosenblum acquiesced to Ben-Gurion's request and legally changed his name to Vardi, he later admitted to regretting not signing as Rosenblum.[14] Several other signatories later Hebraised their names, including Meir Argov (Grabovsky), Peretz Bernstein (then Fritz Bernstein), Avraham Granot (Granovsky), Avraham Nissan (Katznelson), Moshe Kol (Kolodny), Yehuda Leib Maimon (Fishman), Golda Meir (Meyerson/Myerson), Pinchas Rosen (Felix Rosenblueth) and Moshe Sharett (Shertok). Other signatories added their own touches, including Saadia Kobashi who added the phrase "HaLevy", referring to the tribe of Levi.[19]
After Sharett, the last of the signatories, had put his name to paper, the audience again stood and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra played "Hatikvah". Ben-Gurion concluded the event with the words "The State of Israel is established! This meeting is adjourned!"[14]
Aftermath
Main article: 1948 Palestine war
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The declaration was signed in the context of civil war between the Arab and Jewish populations of the Mandate that had started the day after the partition vote at the UN six months earlier. Neighbouring Arab states and the Arab League were opposed to the vote and had declared they would intervene to prevent its implementation. In a cablegram on 15 May 1948 to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States claimed that "the Arab states find themselves compelled to intervene in order to restore law and order and to check further bloodshed".[20]
Over the next few days after the declaration, armies of Egypt, Trans-Jordan, Iraq, and Syria engaged Israeli troops inside the area of what had just ceased to be Mandatory Palestine, thereby starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. A truce began on 11 June, but fighting resumed on 8 July and stopped again on 18 July, before restarting in mid-October and finally ending on 24 July 1949 with the signing of the armistice agreement with Syria. By then Israel had retained its independence and increased its land area by almost 50% compared to the 1947 UN Partition Plan.[21]
Following the declaration, Moetzet HaAm became the Provisional State Council, which acted as the legislative body for the new state until the first elections in January 1949.[22]
Many of the signatories would play a prominent role in Israeli politics following independence; Moshe Sharett and Golda Meir both served as Prime Minister, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi became the country's second president in 1952, and several others served as ministers. David Remez was the first signatory to pass away, dying in May 1951, while Meir Vilner, the youngest signatory at just 29, was the longest living, serving in the Knesset until 1990 and dying in June 2003. Eliyahu Berligne, the oldest signatory at 82, died in 1959.[citation needed]
Eleven minutes after midnight, the United States de facto recognized the State of Israel.[23] This was followed by Iran (which had voted against the UN partition plan), Guatemala, Iceland, Nicaragua, Romania, and Uruguay. The Soviet Union was the first nation to fully recognize Israel de jure on 17 May 1948,[24] followed by Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Ireland, and South Africa.[citation needed] The United States extended official recognition after the first Israeli election, as Truman had promised on 31 January 1949.[25] By virtue of General Assembly Resolution 273 (III), Israel was admitted to membership in the United Nations on 11 May 1949.[26]
In the three years following the 1948 Palestine war, about 700,000 Jews immigrated to Israel, residing mainly along the borders and in former Arab lands.[27] Around 136,000 were some of the 250,000 displaced Jews of World War II.[28] And from the 1948 Arab–Israeli War until the early 1970s, 800,000–1,000,000 Jews left, fled, or were expelled from their homes in Arab countries; 260,000 of them reached Israel between 1948 and 1951; and 600,000 by 1972.[29][30][31]
At the same time, a large number of Arabs left, fled or were expelled from, what became Israel. In the Report of the Technical Committee on Refugees (Submitted to the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine in Lausanne on 7 September 1949) – (A/1367/Rev.1), in paragraph 15,[32] the estimate of the statistical expert, which the Committee believed to be as accurate as circumstances permitted, indicated that the number of refugees from Israel-controlled territory amounted to approximately 711,000.[33]
Status in Israeli law
Independence Hall as it appeared in 2007
Paragraph 13 of the Declaration provides that the State of Israel would be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex;. However, the Knesset maintains that the declaration is neither a law nor an ordinary legal document.[34] The Supreme Court has ruled that the guarantees were merely guiding principles, and that the declaration is not a constitutional law making a practical ruling on the upholding or nullification of various ordinances and statutes.[35]
In 1994 the Knesset amended two basic laws, Human Dignity and Liberty and Freedom of Occupation, introducing (among other changes) a statement saying "the fundamental human rights in Israel will be honored (...) in the spirit of the principles included in the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel."
The scroll
Although Ben-Gurion had told the audience that he was reading from the scroll of independence, he was actually reading from handwritten notes because only the bottom part of the scroll had been finished by artist and calligrapher Otte Wallish by the time of the declaration (he did not complete the entire document until June).[16] The scroll, which is bound together in three parts, is generally kept in the country's National Archives. ***** Gadna: An Authentic IDF Experience
Avigail Dupont ’21|September 2, 2019
Gadna%3A+An+Authentic+IDF+Experience
If you’ve never heard of Gadna, don’t worry, because I hadn’t either until I spent three weeks in Israel with a French organization called Yaniv. Over the span of three weeks, we traveled around Israel, starting in the North and making our way down to the South. We enjoyed various activities, such as kayaking on the Jordan River, visiting the water tunnels of Jerusalem, and waking up at four am to watch the sunrise at Masada.
Gadna is a military program in Israel that trains teens from around the world for the IDF. This program has three military bases in Israel: the Tzalmon Gadna base in Lower Galilee, the Joara Gadna base on the Menashe Heights, and the Sde Boker Gadna base in the Negev desert, which is where I stayed. Gadna is actually an abbreviation for Gdudei No’ar, which translates as “youth battalions.” Gadna was established in the early 1940s by the Haganah and offered preliminary military training and classes about the state of Israel for young Israelis entering the IDF.
Upon arrival at Gadna, my group was greeted by two soldiers who led us to an outdoor court where we joined several other groups for the opening ceremony. During the opening ceremony, we were divided into our “tzevets” (units), introduced to our “mefakedet,” the commander who would be responsible for us until the end of our stay, and given our uniforms. We were placed into two equal lines and ordered to stand in “hakshev,” a military position which involves standing upright with one’s feet in a V shape and hands behind one’s back. Our water bottles had to touch the tip of our left foot and girls were ordered to tie their hair back. Whenever we did something wrong, we had to do pushups – three pushups for girls and seven pushups for boys.
It was sunset when the opening ceremony concluded, and the mefakedet of my tzevet took us out for an activity. She lined us up and asked us to hold hands. Then, counting down from five, she told us to run to her water bottle, which she placed fifteen feet in front of us. If the line wasn’t perfectly straight the entire time, we had to start over. The first time, the line was not straight, and some of the girls were left behind. It took us at least six tries before we started getting the hang of it. The purpose of this activity, as she explained afterward, was to teach us to care for others and look out for each other. By holding each others’ hands tightly, running at the same pace, and making sure no one was left behind, we were able to run for fifteen feet in a perfectly straight line in five seconds. Once we internalized this lesson, we applied it to every activity we did that week. We shot M16s, we camouflaged ourselves, we cleaned the campsite, and throughout each activity, we stuck together as a tzevet and as friends.
I started the week terrified of Gadna and ended it not wanting to leave. It turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life.
Yes, the physical training at Gadna was hard, and I came back sore and covered in bruises, but the more time I spend reflecting on my summer, the more I realize that it was all worth it because the lessons I learned at Gadna are lessons I’ll never forget. . ebay6300/ 217