David Ben-Gurion reading the Declaration of Independence, 14 May 1948. File photo by Rudi Weissenstein, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
1948Society
On 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion reads the Declaration of Independence aloud in about 16 minutes.
The text, signed by 37 people, promises equal social and political rights to all inhabitants.
The story in numbers.
37
people signed the Declaration
SourceJewish Virtual Library
250
guests in the small hall, about
SourceJ. Weekly
16minutes
to read the text aloud
SourceJ. Weekly
32minutes
for the whole ceremony
SourceJ. Weekly
Here is how it happened.
14 May 1948, 13:50
The People's Council meets to approve the final text.
25 members vote by a show of hands, and every hand goes up. The session ends at 15:00, an hour before the ceremony.
SourceJ. Weekly
The crowd outside the Tel Aviv Museum building. File photo by Frank Scherschel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
14 May 1948, 16:00
Ben-Gurion opens the ceremony at exactly 16:00.
About 250 guests fill the small hall of the Tel Aviv Museum at 16 Rothschild Boulevard, and hundreds more gather in the street. Hatikvah is sung as the ceremony opens.
SourceJ. Weekly
Afternoon
Ben-Gurion reads the Declaration aloud while thousands listen on the radio.
The reading takes 16 minutes. Thousands of listeners follow it on the Voice of Israel.
SourceJ. Weekly
The text
The text promises equal rights and freedom of conscience.
It promises “complete equality of social and political rights” to all inhabitants, and freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture. It also extends a hand in peace to the neighbouring states.
SourceAvalon Project
Eliezer Kaplan signing the Declaration, 14 May 1948. File photo by Zoltan Kluger, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
During the ceremony
Ben-Gurion and 24 others sign during the ceremony.
The other 12 sign later, 11 of them in besieged Jerusalem.
SourceJewish Virtual Library
18:11 in Washington
The United States recognises the provisional government that same day.
President Truman's statement, issued at 18:11 Washington time, recognises it as “the de facto authority of the new State of Israel”.
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Here is why it matters.
It is the founding text of the State of Israel. It opens the state to Jewish immigration, promises equal rights and freedom of conscience, and offers peace to the neighbouring states.
Three more milestones to read next.
The First Knesset in session, February 1949. File photo by Moshe Marlin Levin, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
1949
Arab citizens vote in Israel's first Knesset election.
Read the story
Golda Meir in 1973. File photo by Marion S. Trikosko, edited by Talmoryair, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
1969
Golda Meir becomes Israel's first woman Prime Minister.
Read the story
Passengers on an El Al flight during Operation Solomon. File photo by Michael Zarfati, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
1991
Operation Solomon airlifts more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews in about 36 hours.
Read the story
Where each fact was read.
Sources read on 1 November 2026.