A State Is Born: The Establishment Of The Israeli System Of Government, 1947–1951

446 Pages·2018·21.044 MB·English

by  Jonathan David Fine, Fray Hochstein, Tamar L. Cohen [Translator]

A State Is Born

A State
Is Born
The Establishment of the
Israeli System of Government,
1947–1951
Jonathan David Fine
Translated from Hebrew by
Tamar L. Cohen
Edited by
Fray Hochstein
Originally published in Hebrew by Carmel Publishing House, 2009
The translation of this book was generously sponsored by
the School of Government, Diplomacy & Strategy at
the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, Israel
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2018 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, elec-
trostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise
without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Ryan Morris
Marketing, Fran Keneston
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Fine, Jonathan David, author. | Cohen, Tamar Liza, translator. |
Hochstein, Fray, editor.
Title: A state is born : the establishment of the Israeli system of government,
1947–1951 / Jonathan David Fine ; translated from Hebrew by Tamar L.
Cohen ; edited by Fray Hochstein.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, 2018. | "Originally
published in Hebrew by Carmel Publishing House, 2009." | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017005399 (print) | LCCN 2017008176 (ebook) | ISBN
9781438467979 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438467986 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Israel—Politics and government--1948-1967. | Israel. Vaadat
HaMatzav. | Israel. Miśrad ha-penim. | Israel. Miśrad ha-ʻavodah òveha-
reòvaòhah.
Classification: LCC JQ1830.A58 F56 2018 (print) | LCC JQ1830.A58 (ebook)
| DDC 320.9569409/044—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017005399
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory of our beloved Jonathan,
so missed, so present
Mickey, Danny, and Ruthie Fine

Contents
Preface • ix
Acknowledgments • xi
Introduction • xiii
Part I: Va’adat HaMatzav (January 1947–April 1948)
Introduction • 1
Chapter 1 • 3
The Backdrop for the Establishment of Va’adat HaMatzav
Chapter 2 • 33
The Activity of Va’adat HaMatzav up to the Outbreak of
the War of Independence (October–December 1947)
Chapter 3 • 39
Va’adat HaMatzav during the War of Independence
Chapter 4 • 55
Long-Range Planning: The Judicial System and
the Final Report of Va’adat HaMatzav
Chapter 5 • 73
Va’adat HaMatzav and the Planning of
the Interior Ministry and the Labor Ministry
vii
viii Contents
Part II: The Government Ministries during the War:
From the Establishment of the Provisional Government to
the First Elections (April 1948–January 1949)
Introduction • 91
Chapter 6 • 93
Establishing the Legal and Executive Foundations
of the Government System
Chapter 7 • 117
The Ministry of the Interior during the War of Independence
(May 1948–January 1949)
Chapter 8 • 145
The Labor Ministry during the War of Independence
(May 1948–January 1949)
Part III: The Establishment of the Israeli Government
After the First Elections (January1949–November 1951)
Introduction • 177
Chapter 9 • 179
Elections to the First Knesset: Results and Significance
Chapter 10 • 199
The Interior Ministry (January 1949–November 1951)
Chapter 11 • 235
The Labor Ministry (January 1949–November 1951)
General Summary • 275
Biographical Appendix • 295
Map Appendix • 312
Notes • 315
Bibliography • 365
Index • 385
Preface
In January 1947, the British cabinet made the historic decision to
transfer the question of the future of Palestine to the United Nations, a
decision announced officially by British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin on
February 18, 1947, in a speech to Parliament. Thus began the final stage
of British rule in Palestine. May 1947 saw the establishment of the United
Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) Commission, which
in August of that year recommended the partition of Palestine into two
states, one Jewish and one Arab. This recommendation was approved by
the U.N. General Assembly on November 29, 1947.
A short time after the British decision to transfer the question of
Palestine to the U.N., various bodies from the national institutions of
the Yishuv (the Jewish settlement in Palestine) began to hold initial dis-
cussions to prepare for a possible transfer of power. On April 24, 1947,
Eliezer Kaplan, a member of the Jewish Agency Executive Board, proposed
establishing a joint committee, to be comprised of representatives of the
Jewish Agency and the Va’ad HaLe’umi, to prepare the Yishuv establish-
ment for the transition from Mandatory rule to a Jewish sovereign state.
The Emergency Committee (in Hebrew Va’adat HaMatzav) began its work
in October 1947. Up until the U.N. Partition Plan resolution at the end
of November, Va’adat HaMatzav focused on initial formulations of theo-
retical plans for the transition of power. However, following the outbreak
of hostilities in December 1947, its members were forced to focus on the
planning and implementation of a system of essential services, while at the
same time filling the power vacuum that the disintegrating Mandatory
government had left in its wake. On March 1, 1948, Minhelet Ha’Am
ix