Israel's Declaration of Independence: the history and political theory of the nation's founding moment

Abstract

Israel's Declaration of Independence brings to life the debates and decisions at the founding of the state of Israel. Through a presentation of the drafts of Israel's Declaration of Independence in English for the first time, Neil Rogachevsky and Dov Zigler shed new light on the dilemmas of politics, diplomacy, and values faced by Israel's leaders as they charted the path to independence and composed what became modern Israel's most important political text. The stakes began with war, state-building, strategy, and great power politics, and ascended to matters of high principle: freedom, liberty, sovereignty, rights, and religion. Using fast-paced narration of the meetings of Israel's leadership in April and May 1948, this volume tells the astonishing story of the drafting of Israel's Declaration of Independence, enriching and reframing the understanding of Israel's founding and its ideas - and tracing its legacy.