The Drafting Process of the Declaration of Independence

Abstract

The Israeli Declaration of Independence read out and signed on May 14, 1948, was shaped in a long series of drafts composed by different authors in the weeks preceding the signing ceremony. The differences between the drafts mainly reflected significant nuances in political stance, but also frequent changes in the external political circumstances surrounding the establishment of the state. First conceived in terms of a multilateral detailed Partition Plan approved by the UN General Assembly on November 29, 1947, Israel was in fact created under growing difficulties in the implantation of the Partition Plan and its final collapse in the days leading to a unilateral proclamation on May 14. The following analysis focuses on the evolution of key parts of the Declaration relating to constitutional issues throughout the different drafts. For context, the analysis is preceded by a brief history of the drafting process and a short description of the legal status of the Declaration in Israeli law.