Lifting a curtain on Israel’s birth: We celebrate the Jewish State’s 74th with 8 fun founding facts

As the modern state of Israel celebrates its 74th anniversary this week, the passage of time and the solemn black-and-white photos of the founding period lend a feeling that the country’s first footsteps were orderly, well-thought-out affairs.

But in reality, things couldn’t have been more different — the country’s very name was hotly debated, the Declaration of Independence was far from ready on time, and even the curtain that is a backdrop in famous pictures of the declaration’s signing hid more than you might have imagined.

Here are eight fascinating facts surrounding Israel’s founding, an event that typified the country’s famous atmosphere of balagan (chaos) and demonstrated that its resourcefulness were there right from the start.

1. Country’s name not an obvious choice

Israel is obviously nowadays called Israel, but other options included Zion (dismissed because it’s a biblical name for Jerusalem, and also to distinguish between the general Zionist movement and Israeli citizenship), Ever (after the biblical figure Eber, and similar to the Hebrew word for Hebrew, Ivrit) and Judea (rejected in order to differentiate between Jews and Israeli citizens).

Israel, by the way, was the name suggested by the country’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion.

2. Famous Independence Declaration backdrop was a makeshift affair

Israel’s independence was solemnly declared at the entrance of what was back then the Tel Aviv Museum. Famous photos show long drapes, Israeli flags, a portrait of Zionist visionary Theodor Herzl and serious-looking men assembled on stage and on chairs in front of them.

The drapes, it appears, were hung to hide the nude paintings on the walls.

The chairs were taken from surrounding cafés because the decorating budget didn’t quite stretch to purchasing them, and the portrait of Herzl and the flags were borrowed from the United Israel Appeal. The whole thing took 24 hours to put together, but the results ended up looking absolutely timeless.

3. Declaration’s signatories didn’t in fact sign it

Israel’s Declaration of Independence, aside from being a canonical text, is a beautiful work of painstaking calligraphy. So painstaking, that was it wasn’t completely ready in time for the signing ceremony. As a result, its signatories did not add their names to the bottom of the text, but rather to a piece of parchment that was later sewn by its designer’s wife into the complete scroll.

Ben-Gurion, in case you were wondering, read the text from a plain typewritten piece of paper to which he added some handwritten notes.

4. First flag flown in J’lem was colored with crayons

Rebecca Affachiner was a true trailblazer, becoming one of the leading Zionist figures of the early 20th century and dedicating her life to the Jewish community and Zionist cause. Among her remarkable achievements was the fun fact that she flew the first Israeli flag in Jerusalem on May 14, 1948, following the announcement of the establishment of the state. Resourceful woman that she was, she sewed the flag herself and used simple blue crayons to color in its Star of David and stripes. Ingenious.

5. Tel Aviv’s first annual parade failed to march

In Israel’s first two decades, a military parade took place every year as part of Independence Day celebrations. But in 1949, a year after the state was founded, things didn’t quite take off as planned. The parade started out alright, but soon the overenthusiastic crowd in Tel Aviv’s streets blocked it from proceeding any further.

The sham was viewed as highly embarrassing and led one newspaper editor to wonder how the same army that had just a year earlier managed to defend the whole country failed to make it across a simple street.

6. The government invited the public to design the state emblem, then rejected hundreds of proposals

Creating a state emblem is no easy task, and one which needs to take into consideration design, history and functionality. Shortly after the foundation of Israel, the new government invited the public to submit proposals, specifying that the said emblem must feature a seven-lamp candelabra, seven stars and the colors blue and white.

Dutiful artists sent in 450 proposals, and eventually a design by Gavriel and Maxim Shamir of Shamir Brothers Studio made the cut. Their drawing included a modern-looking candelabra and stars alongside olive branches but was later changed to feature the candelabra from the Arch of Titus in Rome and the word “Israel.” The stars were dropped, and the result is what we see on lapel pins and coins everywhere.

7. Israel’s first Knesset met in a movie theater

The Knesset, or house of parliament, is a true landmark here in Israel, with its majestic architecture, sculptures and famous glass-stained windows. But the legislative assembly’s first home, bizarrely enough, was none else than a grand movie theater in Tel Aviv called Kessem (“Magic”) Cinema.

The huge building, constructed in 1945, boasted more than 1,000 upholstered seats and enjoyed a fabulous seaside location. For most of 1949 it hosted Israel’s first parliamentarians until they moved to Jerusalem. In later years, the building was used by tax authority officials and the Israeli opera house. It was then torn down and rebuilt as a residential building with quite a history.

8. 1948 wasn’t first time a government was declared

It’s common knowledge that the State of Israel was founded in 1948, but it’s far less common knowledge that some people tried to bring it about a whole five years earlier.

In 1943, when World War II was still raging, veteran Zionist leaders convened a large public meeting in Ramat Gan called “The People’s Congregation” from which a temporary Jewish government would be elected. As the National Library of Israel’s “The Librarians” blog recalls in detail, nothing momentous came out of all those lengthy speeches. Still, they tried.