Seventy-eight years ago, on May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was officially proclaimed in Tel Aviv, in an event that would transform the history of the Middle East and the Jewish people. The Declaration of Independence was read by then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion before political leaders and representatives of the local Jewish community.
The act marked the recognition of the creation of a sovereign Jewish state in the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people, following decades of political mobilization and in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust.
Since then, May 14 has been remembered as one of the most important dates in Israeli history, commemorated annually with official ceremonies, tributes, and national events.
In the historic photo, Ben-Gurion is seen in Tel Aviv during the reading of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, the moment that officially marked the birth of the country.
