All language subtitles for The.Hope.The.Rebirth.Of.Israel.2015.1080p.BluRay.H264.AAC-RARBG

Terjemahan subtitle oleh: @Nell.aja

Narator: Di tepi sungai-sungai Babel kami duduk dan menangis seperti

kami mengenang Sion.
Karena mereka yang membawa kami sebagai tawanan

meminta kepada kami sebuah nyanyian yang berbunyi:
"Nyanyikanlah bagi kami salah satu nyanyian

Sion!" bagaimanakah kami akan menyanyikan nyanyian Tuhan di negeri asing?

Tetapi sekarang, beginilah firman TUHAN;
"Janganlah takut, sebab Aku telah menebus

engkau, Aku telah memanggil engkau dengan namamu, engkau adalah milik-Ku.
Sebab, Akulah...

TUHAN, Allahmu, yang kudus bagi Israel.
Aku telah mengasihi engkau;

karena itu Aku akan memberikan manusia kepadamu, dan manusia untuk hidupmu.

Aku akan membawa keturunanmu dari timur dan mengumpulkan kamu

dari barat; Aku akan berkata kepada utara, 'serahkanlah mereka! Dan kepada

selatan, 'janganlah menahan mereka kembali!" Bawalah anak-anakku dari jauh,

dan anak-anak perempuan-Ku dari ujung-ujung dari ujung-ujung bumi."

Gordon: Pada tahun 1893, seorang seorang jurnalis Wina menulis, "ketika aku berpikir

tentang masa depan anakku, aku bertanya pada diriku sendiri apakah aku punya hak untuk membuat

hidup begitu sulit baginya seperti yang aku alami.
Itulah sebabnya...

kita harus membaptis anak-anak Yahudi selagi mereka masih bisa merasakan

apa-apa, baik untuk atau menentangnya.
Kita orang Yahudi harus ...

tenggelam di tengah-tengah masyarakat."
imam: Atas nama ayah, dan

putra, dan roh kudus.

Gordon: Itu bukan sesuatu yang kau harapkan untuk didengar dari orang itu

yang dikenal sebagai "bapak zionisme", tapi kata-kata itu

ditulis oleh Theodor Herzl yang menghabiskan hidupnya untuk mencoba memecahkannya,

apa yang disebutnya sebagai "pertanyaan Yahudi".
Herzl lahir di ...

Budapest pada tahun 1860.
Pada saat itu, kota ini dikenal sebagai "judapest"

karena populasi Yahudi yang besar.
Sebagai seorang anak laki-laki, dia...

bersekolah di sebuah sekolah menengah Kristen yang terbuka untuk orang Yahudi.
Dan pada..

ulang tahunnya yang ke-13, orang tuanya mengadakan upacara pembabtisan,

sebagai ganti upacara bar mitzvah.

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda: Theodor Herzl adalah seorang Yahudi yang berasimilasi

berasal dari keluarga yang berasimilasi.
Dia tidak mengenyam pendidikan di ...

lingkungan Yahudi sama sekali.
Dia sangat, sangat jauh dari agama Yahudi.

Keluarganya kemudian pindah ke Wina, di mana Herzl mendapatkan gelar..

gelar sarjana hukum.
Namun hasratnya yang sesungguhnya adalah menulis, jadi ia membagi

waktunya antara menulis drama, bekerja sebagai reporter, dan

mencari cara untuk mengakhiri anti-semitisme.

Prof Gil Troy: Kau tahu, Herzl adalah orang yang menariknya

bersama-sama, tetapi ada banyak pendeta Kristen,

ada rabi, ada semua
macam-macam ada presiden.

Ada berbagai macam orang yang berkata, "tunggu sebentar,

kita memiliki masalah ini."
Gordon: Pada satu titik, herzl bahkan

katedral terbesar.
Dia percaya bahwa jika orang Yahudi memeluk agama Kristen

budaya Kristen, mereka akhirnya akan diterima oleh masyarakat Eropa.

Tapi Theodor herzl akan mendapatkan tugas yang akan

mengubah pikirannya.

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda: Sebagai seorang jurnalis untuk surat kabar terkemuka

di Wina, dia dikirim ke Paris untuk menulis tentang

pengalaman Prancis yang luar biasa.
Herzl, yang merupakan seorang yang hidup, kau..

tahu, dan tinggal di Paris dan menikmati dirinya sendiri dan pergi

ke teater tiga kali seminggu seminggu, dan tiba-tiba dia melihat

wajah buruk dari anti-semitisme.
Gordon: Herzl ditugaskan untuk

meliput "perselingkuhan Dreyfus" yang terkenal di mana seorang Yahudi Prancis

kapten yang secara keliru dituduh menjadi mata-mata Jerman.
Herzl..

menyaksikan Alfred Dreyfus dilucuti dari medalinya, dan

direndahkan di depan umum di sekolah militer di Paris.

Kerumunan orang memenuhi jalanan, meneriakkan "kematian bagi orang-orang Yahudi."

Prof Gil Troy: Orang-orang meradang dan mereka berteriak,

bukan "turun dengan Dreyfus," bukan "turun dengan individu"; Mereka

meneriakkan "turun dengan orang-orang Yahudi" dan Theodor Herzl memiliki "aha" nya

sesaat.
Gordon: Herzl menyadari bahwa

satu-satunya solusi untuk anti-semitisme adalah agar orang-orang Yahudi memiliki

negara sendiri.
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda: Luar biasa.

ide.
Bagaimana kau melakukan itu? Di sinilah penulis

drama datang, kau tahu? Dia akan mengatur panggung.

Gordon: Herzl mengurung diri di apartemennya dan menulis

ide-idenya selama lima hari berturut-turut.
Ketika seorang temannya

berkunjung, dia terkejut dengan penampilan Herzl yang acak-acakan

dan ide-ide liar.
Dia menyarankan agar mereka mencari udara segar. Dan..

mereka berjalan, dia menyuruh Herzl untuk mencari pertolongan medis sebelum

seseorang membawanya ke rumah sakit jiwa.
Herzl tidak membayar

perhatian dan pada tahun berikutnya ia menerbitkan karyanya yang paling terkenal

yang paling terkenal, negara Yahudi.
Prof Gil Troy: Theodor Herzl di

bukunya negara Yahudi impian.
Dan dia berbicara tentang hal ini

negara bangsa baru menjadi mercusuar untuk kemanusiaan.
Dia berbicara tentang hal itu

menjadi model demokrasi.
Gordon: Tidak semua orang

senang dengan ide-ide Herzl.
Kaum Yahudi yang religius berpikir bahwa

penghujatan untuk membangun kembali bangsa Israel tanpa

Mesias.
Namun demikian, Herzl bekerja tanpa kenal lelah untuk mewujudkan

visinya.
Dia bahkan mencoba untuk membeli tanah Palestina.

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda: Dia mencoba menciptakan situasi di mana dia akan

diperkenalkan kepada sultan Turki, dan dia akan membeli tanah itu

dari Israel darinya.
Wah, itu akan menghabiskan banyak uang.

Bagaimana dia akan membayarnya?
Nah, dia bermimpi; Dia punya sebuah

ide.
Dia berkata, "Aku akan mengambil setengah dari kekayaan semua

orang Yahudi yang kaya".
Yah, tentu saja sama sekali tidak ada kesempatan

bahwa salah satu dari orang-orang ini akan melakukan itu.
Mereka tidak ingin melakukannya.

melihat zionisme berhasil, pada faktanya.
Tetapi dia yakin bahwa itu adalah

cara untuk melakukannya.
Gordon: Pada tahun 1897, Herzl mengumpulkan

Delegasi Yahudi dari seluruh dunia untuk dunia pertama

kongres zionis.
Untuk pertemuan bersejarah ini dia memilih

kota Basel di Swiss.
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda: Ngomong-ngomong,

apakah kau tahu mengapa itu berada di Basel?
Seharusnya di Munich.

Dan di Munich ada orang Yahudi yang menyebut diri mereka orang Jerman

iman Musa.
Dan mereka berkata kepadanya, "kami tidak menginginkan hal ini

Orang-orang jembel Yahudi yang datang dari seluruh dunia datang ke

Munich."

Gordon: Pada bulan Agustus, lebih dari 200 delegasi dari 17 negara

tiba di Basel.
Itu adalah perwakilan Yahudi pertama

perakitan dalam hampir 2000 tahun dan suasananya sangat menegangkan.

Di belakang podium berkibar bendera putih dengan dua garis biru dan

bintang Daud, versi desain yang akan diadopsi oleh

negara Israel 50 tahun kemudian.
Di antara para delegasi terdapat seorang

Man Herzl yang diperkenalkan sebagai "zionis Kristen pertama".
Dia...

Pendeta William Hechler adalah pendeta kedutaan Inggris di

Wina.
Dia sangat tertarik dengan kembalinya orang-orang Yahudi ke

Israel, sehingga dia membantu Herzl membuat beberapa keputusan politik yang penting.

politik yang penting, dan keduanya menjadi teman seumur hidup.
Seperti yang dikatakan Herzl.

berjalan menuju podium, orang-orang bersorak dan menghentakkan kaki mereka.

Dia membuka kongres dengan mengumumkan, "kita di sini untuk meletakkan

batu fondasi rumah yang akan menaungi

bangsa Yahudi".
tepuk tangan itu memekakkan telinga. Seorang delegasi dari Inggris

menggambarkan kegembiraan para hadirin.
"Di tepi sungai-sungai

Babel, kami duduk dan menangis sambil mengingat Sion.
Oleh

sungai-sungai di Basel, kami duduk dan bertekad untuk tidak menangis lagi."

Prof Gil Troy: Hal yang indah tentang Theodor herzl dan

hal yang indah tentang zionisme, adalah bahwa ia tidak hanya

berhenti pada hal-hal yang negatif.
Ada anti-semitisme dan ada

negatif, dan ada penolakan tertentu dari pihak

Eropa.
Tapi apa yang mereka juga lakukan adalah, aku menyebutnya "Yahudi jitsu"

bergerak di mana kau mengambil hal negatif dan mengubahnya menjadi sesuatu

positif.
Gordon: Beberapa hari kemudian herzl

membuat pernyataan yang berani dalam buku hariannya.

Theodor Herzl: "Di Basel, Aku mendirikan negara Yahudi.
Jika aku

mengatakan hal ini dengan lantang hari ini, Aku akan dijawab oleh universal

tawa.
Mungkin dalam lima tahun dan tentu saja dalam 50 tahun, semua orang

akan mengetahuinya."
Gordon: Pernyataan Herzl berubah

menjadi nubuatan.
Lima puluh tahun kemudian, bangsa-bangsa yang bersatu

menyetujui rencana untuk membagi Palestina menjadi dua wilayah Yahudi dan Arab.

negara, dan sembilan bulan kemudian negara Israel lahir.

Setelah kongres, Herzl yang tidak pernah beragama,

mulai menjalankan beberapa tradisi Yahudi.
Pada musim dingin itu, sebaliknya

memiliki pohon Natal, keluarga Herzl merayakannya dengan

hanukah pertama.

Meskipun kesehatannya semakin memburuk kesehatan, herzl melakukan perjalanan

dunia, mencoba untuk mendapatkan pendukung untuk negara baru.
Dia pergi lebih dulu.

ke Konstantinopel, lalu ke Yerusalem dengan harapan meminta

Sultan Utsmaniyah untuk mendapatkan tanah.
Kemudian, pada musim semi tahun 1903, kebutuhan

untuk sebuah negara Yahudi menjadi lebih mendesak dari sebelumnya karena dunia

mengalihkan fokusnya pada sebuah kota kecil di Rusia.

Gordon: Pada hari Minggu Paskah, sekelompok pria ortodoks Rusia

memasuki kawasan Yahudi di desa Kishinev.
Dipimpin oleh

para imam mereka, mereka meneriakkan "kematian bagi orang-orang Yahudi!".
Hal yang sama

teriakan yang didengar Herzl di Paris selama peristiwa Dreyfus hampir

sepuluh tahun sebelumnya.
Saksi mata menggambarkan pembantaian berdarah

yang terjadi setelahnya.
"Para istri, bersama bersama dengan suami mereka ditembak

jatuh,

Seorang pekerja sinagoge dibunuh karena melindungi Taurat dengan

tubuhnya, anak-anak memiliki otak mereka yang berlari keluar melawan

dinding, dan bahkan bayi-bayi direnggut dari pelukan

memohon ibu dan dilemparkan melalui jendela.

Saat matahari terbenam, jalanan jalanan dipenuhi dengan

mayat." setelah tiga hari, lebih dari 40 orang Yahudi terbunuh, 92

terluka, dan lebih dari 700 rumah dijarah dan dihancurkan.

Gordon: Empat bulan kemudian, kongres Yahudi bersidang di bawah

bayang-bayang pembantaian, tapi itu baru permulaan.

Herzl memiliki kabar baik dan kabar buruk untuk orang banyak.
Kabar baiknya adalah

bahwa Britania Raya ingin membantu orang-orang Yahudi, kabar buruknya,

adalah bagaimana mereka ingin membantu.
Setelah pogrom Kishinev,

Herzl mengadakan pertemuan darurat dengan politisi Inggris.
Dia

Yang berada di bawah Inggris kontrol.
Rencananya adalah untuk menyelamatkan

orang-orang Yahudi dari Rusia, dan masih tetap dekat dengan Palestina.
Para

Inggris menolak, dan menawarkan mereka tanah di timur Inggris

Afrika, sekarang Uganda.
Tanpa pilihan lain, Herzl menerima tawaran tersebut.

tawaran itu dan Inggris menyusun rencana untuk koloni yang mereka sebut

"Palestina baru" pada tahun 1903, Herzl mempresentasikan ide tersebut kepada

kongres zionis, dengan hasil yang sangat buruk.

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda: Zionisme mengacu pada Sion.
Dan rencananya adalah

pada akhirnya untuk menjadikan Sion sebagai tanah air... tidak ada yang memberikan

ini.
Tapi untuk saat ini, kita akan mendapatkan diri kita sendiri tempat

untuk bersembunyi.
Gordon: Itu adalah para delegasi

dari Rusia, yang Herzl mencoba untuk melindungi, yang mengambil

berita yang paling sulit.
Mereka menyerbu keluar dari ruang konser di

protes.
Di antara mereka ada seorang pemuda muda yang akan menjadi yang pertama

Presiden negara baru Israel - Chaim Weizmann.

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda: Kaum zionis dari Rusia membenci gagasan itu.
Jadi

mereka pada dasarnya melancarkan revolusi melawannya dan mematahkan

hatinya, dan dia telah ditangani goncangan yang luar biasa sehingga

semua orang tidak mengambil kata-katanya untuk kebenaran Injil.

Gordon: Herzl menutup kongres zionis ke-6 dengan mengangkat

tangan kanannya dan membacakan sebuah ayat dari mazmur.

Gordon: Ini adalah yang terakhir terakhir yang pernah diucapkannya di

podium in basel. Only his close
friends and family knew that he

was suffering from heart
failure, and over the next year

his health declined rapidly.
On July 3rd he told his old

friend reverend hechler, "greet
Palestine for me. I gave my

heart's blood for my people.”

He died the next day. And at his

funeral in Vienna, more than
6,000 people gathered to honor

the man they had called
"king of the Jews."

Gordon: In 1949, the new
government of Israel honored

herzl's dying request. They
brought his remains from Vienna

and reburied them here, on a
hill overlooking Jerusalem.

During his lifetime, herzl was
called everything from a hero to

a dreamer to a heretic. But his
influence on the Jewish people

is undeniable. In the last
decade of his life he gave them

something they hadn't had in
nearly 2,000 years: The hope of

going home.
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda: He was an

amazing man. He deserves a lot
of credit. He had a dream and it

was a good dream. But you know,
there's a distance between

dreaming and between bringing
something to fruition. It took

pioneers; It took men of action,
men of work. Herzl was, in the

words of that wonderful song,
the wind beneath their wings.

Gordon: Even before herzl's
death, his dream was becoming a

reality. Thousands of Jews were
returning to Israel to carry out

At the fifth zionist
congress in 1901,

Theodor herzl directed the
creation of a Jewish national

fund, or jnf, dedicated to
buying land in Palestine. The

Jewish people, he said, will be
not only the donors, but also

the owners.
Yossi katz: The purpose of the

Jewish national fund was to
purchase land in eretz Israel,

and to transfer the lands into
the hands of the Jewish people.

This means that the jnf will be
the sole owner of the lands,

forever.
Gordon: The first step was

raising money. The jnf launched
a worldwide fundraising

campaign. Donation cans known as
"blue boxes" were placed in

Jewish schools, synagogues,
businesses, and homes.

Yossi katz: Jews all over the
world were very enthusiastic.

They were excited about the idea
that the Jewish people would

have a property which belongs to
them in the land of Israel.

Gordon: The Jews often paid as
much as ten times the normal

rate for land the arabs
considered unusable.

Dr. arie Ben: As much as they
ask, we pay because we need it.

It gave us in the future, the
map of the future state of

Israel. And every piece of land
that we buy, we develop.

Yossi katz: They dried the
swamps and exploded the rocks

and stones; Later on they built
drainage basins in order to

drain the water, making possible
for agricultural settlements to

begin.
Gordon: By 1914, there were

nearly 100,000 Jews living in
Palestine. They had started 50

agricultural villages, and
farmed roughly 100,000 acres of

land. As the population grew,
the jnf began to draw a map for

the future state of Israel.
Yossi katz: In the beginning,

the purchases of lands were done
according to what was available

for sale. But later on, in the
1930s, it became clear that

sooner or later there would be a
partition of the area into a

Jewish state and an arab state,
and the jnf concentrated the

purchases of lands on the edges
of Palestine, in order to

broaden the borders of the
future Jewish state.

Dr. arie Ben: I can say that
without the jnf, we have not a

state of Israel.
Gordon: Almost 50 years before

the jnf started buying land,
wealthy Jewish businessmen from

Europe were privately funding
settlements in Palestine. One of

the first was here in Jerusalem

Gordon: In the mid-19th century,
Jerusalem was a city marked by

disease, poverty, and despair.
The entire city was confined

within these walls, with more
than 25,000 people crowded into

one square kilometer. In 1857,
American author Herman melville

toured the city, which he
described as a "pile of arid

rocks” where "the emigrant Jews
are like flies who have taken up

their abode in a skull.”
eliezer Ben-Yehuda: It was a

desolate land. And the Jews, as
well as the arabs, whether they

were christians or moslems, were
living in absolute poverty.

Gordon: The old city was filled
with religious Jews who lived on

charity. Sir Moses montefiore, a
wealthy British banker, was

appalled by their living
conditions and decided to help.

In 1855, he had made the first
Jewish land purchase in

Palestine... 25 acres of
orange groves in Jaffa, where

Jewish settlers could be trained
as farmers. Now five years

later, he turned his attention
to Jerusalem. From the city's

governor, he bought a piece of
land outside the walls. Herman

melville described the
transaction saying: "They

fleeced him sadly, charging
enormous prices for everything

he bought.”
eliezer Ben Yehuda: It's not

that it was all built up; There
was a lot of empty land, but

they weren't selling to Jews.
Even then they weren't selling

to Jews. So montefiore came in
and he bought land outside the

wall, and he started building
outside the wall. And he

convinced the Jews
to go and live there.

Gordon: There he built a
community called mishkenot

sha'ananim, which means
"peaceful dwellings" in Hebrew.

He took the name from the words
of the prophet Isaiah: "My

people will dwell in a peaceful
habitation, in secure dwellings,

and in quiet resting places.” it
was the first Jewish settlement

in Palestine. Jews from the old
city reluctantly moved in, but

sneaked back inside the city
walls to sleep every night,

because they were afraid of arab
marauders. Montefiore donated

large sums of money to promote
education among the religious

Jews, and to create jobs so they
could support themselves. He

also built a windmill to
increase their food supply.

Eliezer Ben Yehuda: There wasn't
one bakery in all of Jerusalem.

If you wanted bread, you had to
make it at home. Where are you

going to get the flour from?
There were no stores that sold

flour. And there was no mill to
make flour, so he built a mill.

Gordon: Today, montefiore's
windmill still stands. And the

village he built is now one of
Jerusalem's most desirable

neighborhoods: Yemin Moshe,
which means "the right hand of

Moses.” about 20 years after
montefiore's work in Jerusalem,

another European banker helped
build a community of Jewish

farmers, this time on the shores
of the mediterranean.

Gordon: In 1882, 17 families
from eastern Europe founded a

village on the western coast of
Palestine. They called it rishon

Verse in the book of Isaiah: "I
was the first to tell Zion,

'look! Help is on the way!™ and
indeed, rishon was a city of

firsts. In 1883, a young writer
there wrote a poem called

"hatikva” or "the hope." Sixty-
five years later it would become

the national anthem of the new
state of Israel. The design for

the first Israeli flag was
created there in 1885, and in

1889, the first all-Hebrew
school in Palestine was built.

But while culture thrived,
agriculture was a challenge. The

settlers looked to Europe for
help, and they found it in the

French baron,
Edmond de rothschild.

Eliezer Ben Yehuda: They
discovered that they can't grow

anything there, because it was
sand dunes. Now, you can't grow

apple trees, and you can't grow
wheat in sand. And if you

planted something, even if you
took a little root, you know,

the first sandstorm would kill
the new plants. So eventually,

rothschild said, "they're not
going to succeed like that."

Gordon: Baron rothschild helped
the settlers start a thriving

citrus grove where Jews and
arabs worked side by side. Then

he gave them grapevines from his
vineyard in France, the renowned

chateau lafite. He also sent his
own experts to supervise the

growth of the new carmel winery.
Eliezer Ben Yehuda: Grapevines

do very, very well in sand. And
so they started growing

grapevines, and they started
making wine. And the amazing

thing was that the wine was
rothschild wine from rothschild

vines and it became very, very
good wine. You see, so all of a

sudden they had
their first success.

Gordon: Just 18 years after the
first vine took root, carmel

wine won a gold medal at the
Paris world's fair. Today,

rishon lezion is the 4th largest
city in Israel, and carmel wine

is sold in more than 40
countries around the world.

Baron rothschild once said of
the project, "without me, the

zionists could have done
nothing. But without the

zionists, my work would have
been dead." Just north of rishon

lezion, another city was rising
on the dunes of the

mediterranean. It would later
become the center for Israeli

innovation, and the first modern
city of the new Jewish state.

Gordon: In 1906, Jewish settlers
purchased 60 plots of land on

the mediterranean coast, just
north of the arab city of Jaffa.

Three years later, in 1909, 66
Jewish families gathered on a

sand dune to divide the land,
using a lottery of seashells.

Family names and plot numbers
were written on the shells, and

drawn randomly from a box. This
gathering was the official birth

of the city of Tel Aviv. The
city took its name from the

Hebrew title of Theodor herzl's
book, old new land. The spot

where the settlers stood would
later be the site of the tel

aviv museum, where almost 50
years later the Jewish people

would declare their
independence.

Yossi katz: The jnf gave the
largest loan to the founders of

Tel Aviv. After that, the tel
aviv founders were able to

purchase land and build houses.
The jnf was one of the most

important institutions in
building and preparing the

nation for the founding of the
state. A state does not just

rise in one day, it needs much
preparation beforehand.

Gordon: Whether the land of
Israel was purchased by wealthy

patrons, or bought with small
donations from around the world,

many Jewish people believe their
ownership of the land is secured

by a deed written
thousands of years ago.

Yossi katz: Our Bible is our
deed for our ownership of this

land. And the idea of the jnf,
it came from the Bible, the land

of Israel belongs to the god.
Zionism was the Jewish national

movement. The Jewish national
movement, without strong roots

to the Bible, can't exist.
Gordon: By the time world war I

broke out, that Jewish national
movement was thriving and world

events were shifting quickly.
The entire middle east was about

to change hands and the Jewish
people were about to get

something for which they had
waited nearly 2,000 years... the

promise of a home in the land of
Israel, secured by one of the

most powerful nations on earth.

Gordon: At the height of world
war I, Great Britain faced a

critical shortage of acetone,
the chemical needed to create

the explosive in artillery
cartridges. American shipments

were cut off by German u-boats,
and without acetone, British

troops couldn't fire their guns,
a big problem in the middle of a

war. A young man named Winston
Churchill was in charge of the

British Navy, and he had heard
about a chemist in Manchester

meeting.
Weizmann: "Mr. Churchill, then a

much younger man, was brisk,
fascinating, charming and

energetic. Among his first words
were, "well doctor, we need

30,000 tons of acetone. Can you
make it?' I was so terrified by

this lordly request that I
almost turned tail.”

Gordon: Instead, the chemist
went to work. He had already

invented a way to create acetone
by fermenting grains, potatoes,

and even chestnuts. So he worked
day and night to reproduce it in

mass quantities. And soon, the
British were producing 90,000

gallons a year in breweries and
distilleries commandeered by the

government.
Gordon: The chemist who saved

the British army was a Jewish
man named Chaim weizmann, a

zionist leader who would one day
become the first president of

the state of Israel. Weizmann
was born in 1874 in the Russian

village of motol. He was one of
15 children from an orthodox

Jewish family, and one of nine
who made it all the way through

university.
Dr. golan! I: In Russia, the Jews

couldnt go to universities, so
high education for Jews, it was

something that's impossible. So
if you want to remain Jew, but

in a better condition, you have
one direction: West. Like Chaim

weizmann, he went to Germany to
learn science.

Gordon: In addition to studying
chemistry, weizmann developed a

deep interest in zionism. Every
year he came to basel to attend

the zionist congress. He was
here in 1903 when his hero,

Theodor herzl, dropped a
bombshell on the crowd.

Chaim weizmann: “Il remember one
deeply significant detail of the

stage setting. It had always
been the custom to hang on the

wall a map of Palestine. This
had been replaced by a rough map

of the Uganda protectorate, and
the symbolic action filled us

with foreboding.”
Gordon: Then Theodor herzl took

the stage and presented the
British government's offer to

resettle the Jewish people in
Uganda, instead of Palestine.

Weizmann was appalled and joined
the Russian delegation in a

walkout. The so-called Uganda
plan was a disaster, but in it,

weizmann saw a small
ray of hope.

Dr. golani: On the other side,
he said: Well, something very

interesting happened here. Who's
behind this proposal? For the

first time, a power, one of the
most important powers of the

time - or the most important one
britain thinks we are serious,

speaking with us as a national
collective. This is something

that never happened before.
Gordon: After that, weizmann

believed the British might be
the Jews' best chance for a

state, so in 1904, he took a
position at the university of

Manchester, his home
for the next 30 years.

Dr. golani: For someone like
Chaim weizmann to go to england

during the Uganda crisis, it's
something very uh - what can I

say - stupid. If you want to be
a leading zionist, you know,

leader, so please, stay in
Paris, or in Vienna, or Berlin,

or Geneva. But to go to
Manchester? You know, it's - who

heard about Manchester? It's
like you exile yourself.

Especially someone like
weizmann, who wanted to be a

zionist leader. This is what he
wanted to be. He didn't want to

be a, you know, a big scientist.
He wanted to be herzl's

successor, that's what
he wanted to do.

Gordon: As it turned out,
Manchester was the place where

weizmann would make one of his
most important friendships: The

former British prime minister,
lord Arthur balfour. In 1906,

lord balfour was campaigning in
Manchester, and a friend

introduced him to Chaim
weizmann. The two talked for

more than an hour, and almost
immediately the conversation

turned to Uganda.
Lord balfour: But the Russian

Jews need a safe haven
immediately. Why not British

east Africa?
Weizmann: The survival of

zionism is based on a spiritual
conviction. And that conviction

is based on Palestine, and on
Palestine alone. If Moses had

been here when they had proposed
Uganda, he would surely have

- broken the tablets once again.
- Lord balfour:

Weizmann: Mr. balfour, supposing
I were to offer you Paris

instead of London.
Would you take it?

Lord balfour: But Dr. weizmann,
we have London.

Weizmann: That is true. And we
had Jerusalem when London was

nothing more than a marsh.
Lord balfour: Are there many

Jews who think like you?
Weizmann: I believe I speak the

mind of millions of Jews who
cannot speak for themselves.

Lord balfour: If that is so, Dr.
Weizmann, then you will one day

be a force.
Gordon: Lord balfour had gone

into the meeting hoping to
change weizmann's mind, but

instead, he became the convert,
and the Jewish people gained an

ally in one of the most powerful
men in england. In 1910,

weizmann became a British
citizen, and would remain one

until he became the president of
Israel in 1948. When world war I

broke out, zionist leaders in
Europe were divided over which

side to take, since many of them
were German. But weizmann

convinced them that there was
only one clear choice.

Dr. golani: You could find
prominent zionist leaders in the

German army and in the French
army and in the British army,

shooting each other. We don't
take any side. Weizmann said,

“no, no, no. It's a huge
historical mistake. We have to

take side and it's the British
one." And to say it in 1915 and

in "16, it was crazy because who
knew that the British are going

to take all of the middle east.
I mean, it was a war. I mean,

nobody knew how it will finish.
Gordon: Weizmann's

groundbreaking production of
acetone had been invaluable to

the British war effort, and
David Lloyd George, the minister

of munitions, offered him a
reward. Weizmann answered,

"nothing for me, but I would
like you to do something for my

people.” Lloyd George later
wrote in his memoirs, "that was

the origin of the famous balfour
declaration” the letter written

by weizmann's old friend, lord
balfour, now an ardent zionist.

Lord balfour: "His majesty's
government view with favour the

establishment in Palestine of a
national home for the Jewish

people, and will use their best
endeavours to facilitate the

achievement of this object.”
Dr. golani: Weizmann's "miracle"

is the fact that he convinced
Arthur James balfour that to

promise a national home for the
Jews in Palestine, it's not a

Jewish interest, it's not a
zionist interest, it's a British

one. All the rest is history.

Gordon: With a Jewish homeland
now on the horizon, weizmann met

with emir faisal, the leader of
the arab national movement. The

two signed an agreement that the
arabs would encourage the Jewish

national home in Palestine,
while the Jews would help the

arabs develop their natural
resources. After signing the

agreement, faisal made the
following statement:

But that sentiment only
lasted a few months. Since the

British refused to Grant the
arabs immediate independence,

faisal reneged on the deal.
Danny ayalon: This is very

unfortunate because the
recognition that the land

belongs to the Jews would have
not only created a peaceful

relationship, but it would have
made the entire region

successful, prosperous, stable,
and certainly would have saved a

lot, a lot of blood.

Gordon: In April of 1920,
weizmann traveled to the Italian

town of San remo where allied
leaders met to divide the land

they had conquered in world war
I. The final San remo resolution

also included the balfour
declaration of 1917. The San

remo conference was a turning
point for the zionists. What was

once a dream was now
international law. They would

finally have a state, and the
British would be responsible for

helping them create it.
Britain's foreign minister later

referred to the resolution as
"the magna carta of the Jewish

people.” Palestine was now in
the hands of the British, and

the 1920s and "30s saw
unprecedented growth in the

Jewish community. Much of it was
spearheaded by weizmann. He

helped develop a plant to mine
phosphates at the dead sea, and

a hydroelectric power plant on
the Jordan river. And in 1921,

he and follow scientist Albert
Einstein raised money for what

would later become the technion
institute in haifa. By the end

of the 1930s the shadow of war
loomed over Europe and the

British were more worried about
fighting Hitler than creating a

Jewish state... but that didn't
stop weizmann from asking.

Throughout the war, he pushed
for the creation of a Jewish

brigade, which didn't happen
until the end of the war. He

also lobbied britain to let
thousands of European Jews into

Palestine, which didn't happen
at all. After the war, he

renewed his calls for a state.
By now, there was a new American

president in the white house,
and it was weizmann's job to win

him over.
Gil Troy: Harry Truman comes

into the white house
overwhelmed. He says, "I felt

like the sun and the moon and
the stars had fallen on me."

Truman has to get his own
bearings in office. It's just a

very, very complicated job. And
all of a sudden, on top of this,

comes this Palestine file. And
the Palestine file is triply

complicated. On the one hand,
you have Jewish leaders and

Jewish advisers, and millions of
non-Jews saying, "the right

thing to do is to give the
Jewish people a homeland in

Palestine.” you have the arab
dimension, where arabs with oil

money and with tens of millions
hundreds of millions of people

are saying, "no way. We don't
want a Jewish state in here.

Gordon: In 1947, the British
announced that they were

withdrawing from Palestine, and
in November, the united nations

voted to partition the land into
two states, one arab, and one

Jewish. President Truman
supported the move at first, but

four months later, he wavered
under pressure from his state

department. Weizmann and other
Jewish leaders were in a state

of near-panic. They needed
American support, but Truman's

door had been slammed shut.
Gil Troy: He also doesn't like

to be pushed around. And as the
lobbying gets more intense, he

shuts down. “I've had enough!”
but what do you do? History is

knocking on the door. Things are
changing. There's a date now,

may 15th, 1948, when Israel's
going to become a state when the

British are going to leave.
What's going to happen? What do

you do?

Gordon: Weizmann confided his
fears to American zionist Dewey

stone, who then told his friend
frank Goldman. The two were

attending a dinner for a Jewish
organization in Boston.

Dewey stone: I just spent the
day with Chaim weizmann. He

thinks that he can convince
Truman to turn around on

partition, but he can't get into
the white house. Truman is

shutting everyone out.
Frank Goldman: I think I can

help.
Gordon: Goldman had just met

Harry Truman's old friend and
business partner Eddie Jacobson,

one of the few people with an
open door to the oval office.

They decided to telephone
Jacobson in Missouri right away.

But neither of them had any
coins, so they had to go from

guest to guest until they had
scraped up enough change to make

the long-distance call.

Frank Goldman: "Eddie, it's
frank Goldman. I have a favor to

ask you."
Gordon: Jacobson came east on

the next train and called Truman
immediately. Truman agreed to

see him on one condition: There
would be no talk of Palestine.

Harry Truman: Eddie, you son of
a gun, you promised you wouldn't

say a word...
Jacobson: Mr. president, I

didn't say a word. But I think
of all those homeless Jews,

homeless for thousands of years,
and then I think of Dr.

Weizmann. I can't help it. He's
spent his entire life working

for a homeland for the Jews, and
now he's old and he's sick. He

just wants to see you.
Harry Truman: Eddie, that's

enough. Now, that's the last
word.

Harry Truman: That's all we want
to talk about him. We talked

about this and that, but every
once in a while a big tear would

To have you thrown right out of
here. You knew perfectly well

that I couldn't stand
to see you cry.

Jacobson: Mr. president,
thank you.

Harry Truman: After he was gone
I picked up the phone and called

the state department. I told
them I was going to see

weizmann. And well, you should
have heard the carrying on.

Gil Troy: And what we also have
to remember is that there are

very powerful forces saying
"don't do it." And especially in

the state department, but also
at this time in the department

of defense, the leaders and also
the main bureaucrats are saying,

"don't do it.” and Harry Truman,
to his credit, despite

tremendous pressure from both
sides, makes the decision based

on what Harry Truman believes.
Gordon: The clock was ticking,

and Chaim weizmann had just once
chance to change Truman's mind.

Dr. golani: He was great in a
face-to-face talk. He could say

the right thing at the right
time. He could tell you really

what you want to hear. The basic
things is that weizmann looked

him in the eyes and said, "well,
historically, nobody will

remember you if you reject the
zionists - or the state for the

Jews. If you support it, you
will be remembered.” this is

Chaim weizmann.

Gordon: Chaim weizmann spent
more than four decades working

to gain international support
for the Jewish state. While at

the same time, another man was
in Palestine building that state

from the ground up. To his
friends and colleagues, he was

known simply as “the old man.”
to the rest of the world, he's

remembered as the founder and
father of the state of Israel.

Gordon: Born David gruen in
1886, David Ben-gurion was one

of 11 children. When he was just
three years old, his grandfather

taught him how to speak Hebrew.
He also read him the stories of

the Bible, the book that would
shape Ben-gurion's views

throughout his life.
Alon: For him, the Bible is the

essence of our life. It's the
story of the Jewish people. He

loved the prophets. He loved the
prophets of the Bible. He loved

the language of the Bible. For
him, the Bible was the essence

of the Jewish people. And it's
not only that he knew the Bible

from front to back, he knew it,
he lived it. In many times when

I saw him talking to people and
talking to rabbis, he knew the

Bible better than they knew it.
And it was fascinating.

Gordon: During his life, Ben-
gurion would learn several

languages. But for him, there
was only one language and one

land for the Jewish people.
Alon: The Hebrew is the language

of the Bible. He wanted to go
back to the language. He wanted

that we would go back, that the
nation would go back to Hebrew.

Gordon: As a teenager, he
started his own zionist group

called "the Ezra society” named
after the israelite scribe who

led the Jews back to Jerusalem
after the babylonian exile.

Their goal was to promote
the study of Hebrew.

Alon: That was his dream, as
many people as possible to teach

them, especially the young ones,
let's teach Hebrew, that's our

language.
Gordon: The group also promoted

the idea of Aliyah, moving to
Palestine to build a Jewish

homeland. That idea didn't go
over well with the local

orthodox Jews.
Alon: For them it's, "god took,

god will give.” the almighty is
the one who's responsible for

the destruction of Israel 2000
years ago. So it's the almighty

that will give the state of
Israel. Nobody else.

Gordon: In 1903, zionist leader
Theodor herzl proposed the

creation of a Jewish homeland in
Uganda, a response to the

violent pogroms in Russia.
Herzl's followers around the

world were outraged by the idea,
including Ben-gurion and his

friends in the Ezra society.
They wrote a letter of protest

to the world zionist
organization.

Young Ben-gurion: "We have
reached the conclusion that the

only way to fight ugandaism is
to make Aliyah."

Gordon: For young Ben-gurion,
Aliyah was more than just an

idea, it was a mission. And at
the age of 19, he boarded a ship

bound for the holy land.

Alon: 1906, the day that he
lands in Jaffa, happiest day of

his life.
Gordon: That happiness was soon

tempered by reality. In 1906,
the villages of Palestine were

dominated by arabs, and the
founding of the first kibbutz

was still three years away. The
only places for Jewish

immigrants to go were a few
settlements started by baron

rothschild.
Alon: He's had a problem with

these 13 settlements. The work
was not done by the Jews, the

work was done by the arabs. In
order to own the land, you've

got to work the land. If you
work the land, you own it. If

someone else works it, he owns
it. That's his belief; He has a

conviction about it.
Gordon: And he put that

conviction to the test. Work was
scarce, so Ben-gurion took jobs

wherever he could find them:
Carrying manure in the orange

groves, stomping grapes in the
vineyards, or hauling boulders

and plowing fields
in the galilee.

Alon: It was very hard for him.
Physical labor was very, very,

healthiest person, and the most
athletic person as a kid, etc.,

but he survived. He had the
belief, he had the will, and he

worked through it. When I grew
up and I started to learn about

it, and to hear about it, I
always looked at him and I said,

"my god, if he could do it, what
about us?” you know?

Young Ben-gurion: "I wandered
from settlement to settlement,

my clothes in tatters, my body
on the edge of breakdown from

famine. I quickly succumbed to
malaria. A doctor said I would

never shake the disease, and
that for me, staying in

Palestine meant death. But I
wrote to my father: There is no

going back to the old life.”
Gordon: After four years of

physical labor, Ben-gurion moved
to Jerusalem to help publish a

Hebrew newspaper. It was at this
time that he and his friends

decided to change their names,
and gruen became "Ben-gurion"

which means "son of
the lion" in Hebrew.

Alon: It's a systematic way of
thinking. Language: Hebrew.

Work: Hebrew. The next thing is
Hebrew names. You'll ask me, who

was Joseph Ben-gurion? Joseph
Ben-gurion was the minister of

defense of Jerusalem, when
Jerusalem fell to the hands of

the romans. And he insisted
afterwards, when the state of

Israel was built, if your name
was manischewitz or was

something like this, he would
come to you and say, "why have

you got this manischewitz? Don't
you have a Hebrew name for

that?” in the Israeli army, when
it was developed, anybody who

went from a major to a higher
rank, had to change his name to

a Hebrew name. That's him. This
is the old, and this is the new.

And he was creating the new.
Gordon: In Jerusalem, Ben-gurion

soon realized that the Jews had
no hope of a state without a

leader.
Alon: Once I asked him, I said,

"what is it? You woke one day
and..." I said to him, "you woke

one day and decided you want to
build a country?” I said, "if

anybody would tell me that on
the street, I would say that

he's a lunatic.” he says, "alon,
when I had questions, and nobody

could give me the answers,
that's when I decided I've got

to give the answers."
Gordon: At the time, Palestine

was part of the ottoman empire.
So Ben-gurion spent three months

learning turkish. Then he went
to law school in Istanbul, with

plans to represent Jewish
Palestine in the ottoman

government. But his plans were
interrupted by the outbreak of

world war I. The turks entered
the war on the German side, and

in Palestine, they singled out
the Jews, whom they accused of

siding with the British. Ben-
gurion was one of several Jewish

leaders who were rounded up and
expelled. He sailed for new

York, where he met his wife, a
young nurse named Paula. They

would be married until her
death, 50 years later.

Alon: She was the boss. Paula
had a very, very, very tough

life. A very, very tough life.
She dedicated her life to him,

to take care of him. The
economic situation was not very,

very strong in the house, so
Paula, for example, as a mother,

she used to save money, buying
food only for the kids, and she

did not eat. So there was some
time that she as malnutrition as

a mother. And you hear it, that
this is the wife that later

became the wife of the prime
minister, how can that be? Well,

that's how it was. You know, he
knew where his government is, he

knew where his army is, but he
didn't know where his slippers

are. She knew where it is. He
knew that there was going to be

pajamas on the bed, but he
didn't know where they were

coming from. So, he was building
a country, she built a family.

Gordon: After the war, Ben-
gurion moved back to Palestine,

now under the British mandate.
For the next three decades, he

devoted his life to preparing
for statehood, and soon, he

became the undisputed leader of
the Jewish national movement. He

helped organize a new labor
union called the "histadrut”

which functioned as pre-state
Jewish government. The union

supervised massive waves of
immigration, plus the creation

of hospitals, schools,
sanitation, and public works.

But more Jewish immigrants meant
more trouble with the arabs. In

1920, widespread arab riots
rocked Palestine, and the

British did little or nothing to
stop them. So the Jewish leaders

created their own underground
army to protect their people. It

was called the "haganah” which
means "defense" in Hebrew. This

paramilitary group would later
form the core of the Israeli

defense forces. Over time, the
violence between arabs and Jews

escalated. And in 1936, the
British sent a committee to

investigate the so-called
"Palestine problem." Several

arab and Jewish leaders were
called to testify before the

peel commission, and Ben-gurion
was among them.

Lord peel: Mr. Ben-gurion, may I
ask you a question? Where were

you born?
Ben-gurion: "In plonsk.

Lord peel: "Where is plonsk?
Ben-gurion: "Poland.

Lord peel: "Hmm, very strange
indeed. All the arab leaders who

have appeared before us were
born in Palestine. Most of the

Jewish leaders who have appeared
before us were born in eastern

Europe.
The arab people have an ottoman

land deed entitling them to this
land. Do you have a document

saying Palestine belongs to you?
Ben-gurion: This is my document.

It is a most highly respected
book, and I believe that you

British respect it also. Our
right in Palestine is not

derived from the mandate or the
balfour declaration. It is prior

to that. The Bible - the Bible
which was written by us, in our

own language, in this very
country, is our mandate. Our

right in Palestine is as old as
the Jewish people. We must have

this land.
Alon: For us, we don't have to

get a piece of paper from the
British mandate, or the ottoman

mandate, or from the romans or
from the greeks. The land is

ours. In the Bible it says, this
he gave to the Jews. God gave

this to the Jews. We are
celebrating today - what is it?

5775. This is our new year. Now
let's talk about all the rest of

history. When was england born?
When was Iraq born? When was

Egypt born? The Bible tells us
exactly: This is our country. We

own it.
Gordon: In 1937, the peel

commission published their
recommendations. They called for

a partition of Palestine. The
arabs would get the larger

portion, to be added to
transjordan to form one large

arab state, while the Jews got
just one-third of Palestine.

Jerusalem would remain under
British control, with a corridor

to the coast. The arabs rejected
the proposal outright. Most of

the Jewish leaders opposed it as
well, feeling that they had

already given up enough of the
land that had been promised to

them. But ultimately Ben-gurion
accepted the terms, a decision

that sent shockwaves throughout
Jewish Palestine.

Alon: Everybody was against it.
Why are you agreeing on that?

This is not the state of Israel
this is not Israel. The issue

is "today, I've got nothing. So
that is more than what I have

now. And that is not the end
story; That is the beginning

story.” he already sees the
clouds of the second world war.

He read the book of mein kampf
that Hitler wrote; He already

knew it. And that's one of the
reasons that he's talking about.

Gordon: Ben-gurion's decision
also sparked controversy in his

own family.
Alon: One of the people who did

not agree to it, was his son, my
father. And he writes him a

letter. And in his letter, he
says, "father, how did you agree

to the peel recommendation?” and
then Ben-gurion writes to him a

letter. When you read what Ben-
gurion writes, every word

counts. And I think that the
letter, it draws a great picture

of Israel and his dream
of the state of Israel.

Older Ben-gurion: Of course, the
partition of the country gives

me no pleasure. The question is:
Would we obtain more without

partition? My assumption is that
a Jewish state on only part of

the land is not the end, but the
beginning. We shall admit into

the state all the Jews we can.
We shall build a multi-faceted

Jewish economy - agricultural,
industrial, and maritime. We

shall organize an advanced
defense force, a superior army,

which I have no doubt will be
one of the best armies in the

world. A Jewish state must be
established immediately, even if

it is only in part of the
country. The rest will follow in

the course of time. A
Jewish state will come.

Gordon: Despite Ben-gurion's
support, the peel plan was

scrapped after the arabs
rejected it. But just two years

later, the British came up with
another plan that nearly

shattered the Jewish
dream of statehood.

Gordon: In 1939, the British
government issued a document

known as the "white paper.”
among its main points: Jewish

immigration to Palestine would
be drastically reduced, then end

all together after five years.
In addition, the purchase of

land by Jews in Palestine would
be severely restricted.

Ayalon: The arabs put such
pressure on the British

government here that they sealed
the borders, which actually

condemned millions of Jews to
the death camps in Europe

because they were knocking on
the doors, wanting to come back

to their own homeland, but they
couldn't because of the British

decision, which was a result of
the arab pressure and terrorism.

Gordon: The British had another
big reason to appease the arabs.

On the Eve of world war il, they
needed to keep control of a

crucial oil pipeline that ran
from Iraq to haifa. As war drew

closer, the Jews of Palestine
faced a dilemma. They obviously

couldn't side with the Nazis,
but they also felt the British

had become their enemies as
well. They looked to Ben-gurion

for direction and his response
became their motto throughout

the war.
Ben gurion: This blow will not

subdue the Jewish people. The
historic bond between the Jewish

people and the land of Israel
cannot be broken. We shall fight

the war against Hitler as if
there were no white paper, and

we shall fight the white paper
as if there were no war.

Gordon: As world war il raged in
Europe, Ben-gurion faced a war

of his own in Palestine...
Between different factions of

the Jewish resistance. Fifteen
years earlier, several haganah

members had formed a splinter
group called the irgun. Their

goal was to avenge arab attacks
on Jews, and terrorize the

British out of Palestine. Their
most infamous act was the

bombing of the British
headquarters at the king David

hotel, which killed 91 people.

Ben-gurion and other Jewish
leaders branded the irgun as a

terrorist group and condemned
their actions. In 1944, he

launched what became known as
the "hunting season"... the

roundup and arrest of irgun
members. But by 1947, both the

arab riots and Jewish terrorism
proved too much for the British,

who were still recovering
from world war il.

Ernest bevin: "His majesty's
government have determined to

base their policy on the
assumption that they must lay

down the mandate."

Gordon: In November, the united
nations voted to divide

Palestine into two states: One
arab, and one Jewish.

Un member 1: "United Kingdom?
Abstain. United States: Yes."

Un member 2: "The resolution of
the ad hoc committee for

Palestine was adopted by 33
votes; 13 against, 10

abstentions.”
Gordon: Once again, Jewish

leaders accepted the offer of
partition. And once again, the

arabs refused. The British
mandate would officially end on

may 15, 1948. For Ben-gurion, it
was the right moment to declare

a Jewish state. Others around
him weren't so sure.

Alon: Once he declares the state
of Israel, it will not be only

the local arabs that will fight
against us, but all the arab

countries around us. They're all
going to come after us. George

Marshall, who was the secretary
of state, and forrestal, who was

the minister of defense, for
reasons known to them - we know

what it is, mainly oil - warned
the Israelis "tell Ben-gurion

not to declare the state of
Israel because the Americans

will not support you.” so, what
have you got? You've got -

inside the country you've got
division of opinions. You've got

a war before you've got a state,
and you've got America, the

biggest allies, size-wise,
saying to you, "don't declare

the state of Israel.” so
everything's against you.

Gordon: Facing opposition on all
sides, Ben-gurion took one last

shot at diplomacy. Israel's only
chance for peace with the arabs

now rested on a former
schoolteacher from Wisconsin, a

woman Ben-gurion would later
call “the best man in his

cabinet.”

Meron medzini: Certainly she was
one of the founders of Israel,

one of the makers of Israel. In
many respects she one of Ben-

gurion's chief lieutenants. An
amazing woman in many respects.

A woman of enormous
contradictions. She could be

wonderful. She could be
charming. She could be

charismatic. She could be very
friendly and very solicitous.

She could be, on the other hand,
rigid, inflexible, difficult,

opinionated, combative,
argumentative. I supposed this

is what makes a great leader.

Gordon: Golda mabowitz was born
in Kiev in 1898. When she was

eight years old, her family
moved to America to escape the

massacres that ripped through
the Russian empire. They settled

in Milwaukee, a city with a
thriving Jewish community. But

even in America
life wasn't easy.

Meron medzini: She did not have
a good childhood. She grew up in

a house with women. There was no
man. Her father went to America

a few years before they joined
him. And there was enormous

amount of bickering and
arguments and shouting and

yelling. And this taught golda,
first of all, a lot of Patience.

It also taught her something
else. If you can arrange things

quietly, do so.
Gordon: Even at 11, golda had a

gift for politics. When she
found out there were children in

her school who were too poor to
buy textbooks, she decided to

Letting her use the hall for
free. And one night, she and her

friends held a fundraiser, where
golda pleaded with the audience

to help. That night, they raised
enough money to buy textbooks

for every student at the school.
Meron medzini: She was very

effective because she spoke from
the heart, because she knew how

to relate to the people. And it
turned out she was a fabulous

fundraiser. Incidentally
all her life.

Gordon: Young golda was both
ambitions and adventurous,

traits that didn't sit
well with her parents.

Meron medzini: There was a big
argument in the family. She

wanted to go to high school and
the family said, "no, what for?

Why do you need high school?
Find yourself a job. Until the

time comes, you'll find the
right man to marry and raise a

family.”
Gordon: At just 15 years old,

golda took matters into her own
hands. She ran away from home

and went to live with her sister
in Denver. There she learned

about zionism for the first
time. And soon the idea of

living in the land of Israel
consumed her. It was also in

Denver that she met
her future husband.

Meron medzini: In Denver she met
Morris meyerson, who I remember

was a very decent man. And they
fell in love. He opened to her

the world of literature and
music and theater, things that

she'd never had at home.
Gordon: After two years, golda

returned home to Milwaukee where
she finished school. Then she

went to work as a teacher. She
also agreed to marry Morris

meyerson, whose name she would
later change to the more Hebrew-

sounding "meir."
Meron medzini: Tragedy was that

she conditioned the marriage on
two things: We're going to

immigrate to Israel; We're going
to live in a kibbutz. He hated

both ideas. He was not a
zionist. And she dragged him,

basically, to Israel.
Gordon: In 1921, the couple

settled here at kibbutz merhavia
in the jezreel valley. Life was

hard, but golda thrived on the
physical labor. She picked

almonds, planted trees, and
became an expert in raising

chickens. She also
revolutionized the community's

kitchen, where the other women
refused to work. They felt

kitchen work was beneath them,
and demanded the same jobs the

men were doing.
Golda: I couldn't understand for

the life of me what all the fuss
was about. Why is it so much

better to work in the barn and
feed the cows, rather than in

the kitchen feeding your
comrades? No one ever answered

this question convincingly, so I
remained more concerned with the

quality of our diet than with
the feminine emancipation.

Gordon: Her husband, Morris,
however, didn't share her love

for life on the kibbutz. He
contracted malaria, so golda

agreed to move with him to
Jerusalem. To help pay the

bills, she took a job in the
Jewish labor union and Rose

quickly through the ranks. But
while her career flourished, her

marriage fell apart.
Meron medzini: They never

divorced. They separated, they
lived apart. They tried to

revive the marriage by having
children. That did not exactly

work. But they remained very
good friends and he was involved

in raising the children. And she
became involved in politics

since around 1922-1923, and she
was in politics in Israel for 50

years, in the trade union
movement and the Jewish agency,

the government of Israel, the
labor party, one of the founders

of the labor party.
Gordon: By the mid-1930s, golda

was part of the inner circle of
David Ben-gurion, who would

become Israel's first
prime minister.

Meron medzini: He saw her as one
of his trusted lieutenants. They

disagreed once over the issue of
partition in 1937. The British

offered some sort of partition;
He said "take it. Take what

you're offered. There's a chance
to save Jews in Germany." She

and others said "no, we were
promised the whole of the

country, let's stick to it."
Years later, she had the decency

to say, "we were wrong,
and he was right.”

Gordon: After world war il, one
of the Jewish agency's biggest

priorities was helping holocaust
survivors get into Palestine - a

goal that was blocked by the
British at every turn.

Gordon: By the end of 1947, more
than 40,000 Jewish refugees were

being detained in British camps
in Cyprus. Hundreds of infants

were not expected to survive the
coming winter, or the outbreaks

of typhus. So meir went to
Cyprus to negotiate their

release.
Golda: The camps were more

depressing than I had expected.
At one camp, a few tiny little

Been given a great many bouquets
of flowers since then, but I

have never been as moved as I
was by those flowers presented

to me in Cyprus, by children who
had probably forgotten - if they

ever knew - what real
flowers look like.

Gordon: Golda also requested
that in addition to the babies,

the camp's older orphans be
released as well. At first, the

British officer in charge
hesitated, then suddenly changed

his mind and agreed.
Golda: I couldn't understand why

he had surrendered so quickly,
but later I learned that he had

received a telegram from his
superior in Jerusalem. "Beware

of Mrs. meyerson. She is a
formidable person.”

Gordon: Shortly after meir's
visit, the united nations voted

to divide Palestine into two
states: An arab one, and a

Jewish one. From that moment,
the countdown was on. Within six

months the British would leave,
the Jews would declare a state,

and the arabs would declare war.
Ben-gurion called a meeting with

his top military leaders.
Alon Ben-gurion: He said to

them, "we are going to declare
the state of Israel; I need from

you the list of what weapons you
will need, because we're going

to have a war.” and he gave them
a couple of hours to come back,

and they came with the list. And
they give him a piece of paper,

and on the piece of paper there
was rifles, machine guns,

pistols, grenades. Searched the
piece of paper, threw it back to

them and says, "gentlemen, we're
going to war. I need a list of

how many tanks you need, how
many battleships you need, how

many planes you need, how many
cannons you need.” they all

looked at each other, they got
up, you know, like the head -

the teacher just smacked the
students there, and they went

out and they said, when they got
in the corridor, they all say,

“Ben-gurion histhtager” - "Ben-
gurion went crazy!" Crazy. We

are talking about pistols, he's
talking about battleships. We're

talking about bullets, he's
talking about cannons. But he

knew what he's talking about.

Golda: We were, of course,
totally unprepared for war. We

needed weapons urgently, if we
could find anyone willing to

sell them to us. But before we
could buy anything, we needed

money, millions of dollars. And
there was only one group of

people in the whole world that
we had any chance of getting

these dollars from:
The Jews of America.

Gordon: Most of the council
members thought Ben-gurion

should go to the U.S. to raise
funds. But golda had a different

idea.
Golda: "Il will go. I'm fluent in

english, and I know how to speak
to Americans. And we can't spare

Ben-gurion right now; He's
needed here. I can do it. Fine.”

Meron medzini: She knew exactly
what would, I hate to use the

term, "turn them on.” but
somebody said she appeared to us

like Deborah the prophetess,
"fighting Israel." And she was

very good in the two languages
they understood, yiddish and

english.
Gordon: The Jewish agency's

treasurer was convinced that
they wouldn't be able to raise

more than seven or eight
million. But after just six

weeks, golda returned from the
states with $50 million.

Meron medfzini: That's 1948
dollars. Today it would be, I

don't know, billions of dollars.
And that paid for weapons that

Israel bought from
czechoslovakia, which helped win

the 1948 war. Her fundraising
accounted, I imagine, for about

one-third of the cost of the '48
war. Now few Israelis remember

that. Now, the one who did
remember was Ben-gurion and he

cited this on a
number of occasions.

Gordon: Ben-gurion soon had
another job for golda: A

diplomatic visit to king
Abdullah of Jordan. She had

already had one secret meeting
with Abdullah seven months

earlier. At the time, he had
promised her that he would not

go to war against the Jews.
Golda meir: There were reports

that despite his promise to me,
Abdullah was about to join the

arab league. Was this indeed so?
I asked him in a message. The

reply from Amman was swift and
negative. He asked me to

remember three things: That he
was a bedouin, and therefore a

man of honor. That he was a
king, and therefore doubly an

honorable man. And finally, that
he would never break a promise

made to a woman. But we
all knew differently.

Meron medzini: The British
informed us that it would be a

good idea if somebody goes and
talks to Abdullah because he's

had a change of heart.
Gordon: Golda requested another

meeting. This time, Abdullah
insisted that she go to Amman,

adding that he would take no
responsibility for her safety.

Meron medzini: She was dressed
up as an arab woman; Among those

who dressed her up was my
mother. Went to haifa and drove

with one man to Jordan. Changed
cars near the border in the car

driven one of the retainers of
the king, and they went to

Amman. This is four days before
independence. She was a very

brave woman in this respect.
Abdullah was very upset. He

didn't like the idea of the Jews
sending a woman. And later on he

argued she didn't understand.
She understood very well.

Golda meir: Your majesty.
King Abdullah: Mrs. meyerson.

Please sit down.
Golda meir: Thank you. Your

majesty, have you broken your
promise to me after all?

King Abdullah: When I made that
promise, I thought I was in

control of my own destiny. Now I
am only one of five nations. Why

are you in such a hurry to
proclaim your state? What is the

rush?
Golda: Well, your majesty, we

have waited 2,000 years for a
state. I hardly think that can

be described as a hurry. Don't
you understand that we are your

only allies in the region?
King Abdullah: What can I do?

It's not up to me.
Golda: Well, you must know that

if war is forced upon us, we
will fight. And we will win.

King Abdullah: Why don't you
wait a few years? Drop your

demands for statehood. I will
take over the whole region, and

you will be represented in my
parliament. I will treat you

very well, and there
will be no war.

Golda: You know how hard
we've worked. Do you think we

did all that just for a seat in
a foreign parliament? Your

majesty, if you can offer us
nothing more than that, then

there will be war,
and we will win it.

King Abdullah: Then perhaps we
can meet again ...After the war.

Golda: Shalom.

King Abdullah: Salaam alekoum.

Golda: I never saw Abdullah
again. There was no doubt left

in my mind that he would wage
war on us. My heart sank at the

thought of the news I would have
to bring back to Tel Aviv.

Golda: The next morning there
was a meeting, and I knew that

Ben-gurion would be there. When
I entered the room, he lifted

his head and looked at me. I sat
down and scribbled a note.

"It didn't work,” I wrote.
"There will be war."

Within two days, the
final decision had to be

made. Ben-gurion called in two
haganah leaders for a final

military assessment. Their
answers were virtually

identical... and terrifying.

Ben-gurion: What is the current
strength of the haganah?

Yisrael galili: We have 35,000
trained fighters, but less than

20,000 of them are fully armed.
And, as of right now, the tanks

and planes we purchased have
still not arrived.

Ben-gurion: And the arabs?
Yigal yadin: If Abdullah added

his army, there could be
100,000.

Ben-gurion: And all of them
armed and trained by the

British. Your assessment?
Yisrael galili: We can only be

sure of two things: On may 15,
the British will pull out, and

the arabs will invade.
Ben-gurion: And then?

Yigal yadin: The best thing I
can tell you is we have a 50/50

chance. We are as likely
to win, as to lose.

Golda meir: On that bright note,
it was decided by a vote of 6 to

4 - on Friday, may 14, 1948, the
Jewish state would be declared.

Israel would be born with five
arab armies surrounding it,

poised for attack.

Gordon: The decision to declare
statehood was not an easy one,

and it came after an 11-hour
debate among Israel's leaders.

They knew that independence also
meant instant war. But for a

brief moment in may of 1948,
they put aside their battle

plans, and focused on announcing
to the world that the nation of

Israel had been reborn.

Gordon: With five different
armies surrounding Palestine,

the Jewish national council had
just 24 hours to prepare for a

day that had been 2,000 years in
the making. Council members

placed a telephone call to
zionist leader Chaim weizmann,

who was in New York, rounding up
united nations support for the

new state. When he heard they
had voted for statehood, he

exclaimed in yiddish, "what are
they waiting for, the idiots?"

That same day, golda meir was
ordered to fly to Jerusalem to

meet with outgoing British
leaders. She wanted to stay in

Tel Aviv and attend the
proclamation, but Ben-gurion was

adamant. So golda boarded a
small Piper cub. But as her

plane flew over the judean
hills, the engine malfunctioned,

and the pilot was forced to turn
back to Tel Aviv. So golda got

her wish, a front-row seat at
the proclamation ceremony. 350

invitations were sent out to
Jewish leaders, rabbis and

members of the haganah. Dark,
festive attire was requested.

And the invitations stipulated
that the time and place of the

ceremony was to be kept secret.
The council decided to hold the

ceremony in the Tel Aviv art
museum. It was a modest

building, small enough to be
easily guarded, and partly below

ground level, in case
of an air raid.

Gordon: The council met for the
last time to go over the wording

of the declaration, which had
been written by a group of

lawyers. Religious members
refused to sign the document

unless it contained a mention of
god, while others refused to

sign anything that did mention
god. David Ben-gurion came up

with a compromise. To the final
line of the declaration he

added, "with trust in the rock
of Israel,” a phrase that

satisfied both sides. The night
before the ceremony, Ben-gurion

still wasn't happy with the
language of the proclamation. So

that evening in his home, he
rewrote the entire speech, while

less than two miles away, the
Tel Aviv art museum was being

prepared for the ceremony.
Two carpenters worked

through the night to build a
small stage. The entire budget

for the event was just $200, so
organizers borrowed hundreds of

chairs from nearby cafes and
local stores lent them

microphones and carpets, a
borrowed portrait of Theodor

herzl was placed at the front of
the room, and two blue-and-white

flags were hung on either side
of his portrait. The flags bore

the same design that had been
introduced at herzl's first

zionist congress 50 years
earlier. At Ben-gurion's

request, the paintings in the
main hall were replaced with the

work of Jewish artists like Marc
chagall and Samuel hirschenberg.

The stage was set.

On the afternoon of may 14th,
the national council met

to approve the final
draft of the declaration. The

text was approved unanimously,
but just hours before it would

be read, the new state still
didn't have a name. Historical

names like Zion and judea were
proposed and rejected. It was

Ben-gurion who decided that the
name would be simply "medinat

yisrael” - the state of Israel.

One hour before the ceremony,
council members rushed

home to change their clothes,
while a secretary quickly typed

out the declaration.
With just minutes to

spare, zev sharef, the man
carrying the final copy,

couldnt get a taxi, so he
hitched a ride to the museum.

His car got pulled over for
speeding, and a policeman

started to write him a ticket.
Sharef argued that the ticket

wouldn't be legal because the
British had left and there was

no longer any government to
enforce it. "Plus," he added,

“if you keep us any longer,
there won't be a new government,

because I'm the one holding the
declaration of independence.”

The policeman waved them on, and
just one minute before the

ceremony, sharef handed
Ben-gurion his speech.

Despite the instructions
for secrecy, the news had leaked

out and a large crowd gathered
outside the museum. Jewish

leaders were now racing the
sunset to finish the ceremony

before the sabbath
began at 5 o'clock.

Gordon: At 4 pm, David Ben-
gurion called the meeting to

order. The crowd
Rose and sang hatikva.

Then Ben-gurion read
the declaration aloud.

Ben gurion: The land of Israel
was the birthplace of the Jewish

people. Here they first attained
to statehood, created cultural

values of national and universal
significance, and gave to the

world the eternal book of books.
Thus, we hereby declare the

establishment of a Jewish state
in eretz-yisrael, to be known as

the state of Israel. We appeal
to the arab inhabitants of the

state of Israel, to preserve
peace and participate in the up-

building of the state on the
basis of full and equal

citizenship. We appeal to the
Jewish people throughout the

diaspora to rally around the
Jews of eretz-yisrael, and to

stand by them in the great
struggle for the realization of

the age-old dream, the
redemption of Israel. Placing

our trust in the rock of Israel,
we affix our signatures to the

proclamation, on the soil of the
homeland, in the city of tel

aviv, on this shabbat Eve,
the 14th of may, 1948.

Gordon: After each member of the
new government had signed the

proclamation, the orchestra
played hatikva once again. As

the music died down, Ben-gurion
declared: "The state of Israel

is established. This meeting is
adjourned.” it had taken just 32

minutes to bring independence to
a people who had been without a

country for 2,000 years. Outside
the museum, hundreds of people

danced, while others wept. That
night, Ben-gurion wrote a simple

entry in his diary:
Ben-gurion: Throughout the

country, profound joy and
jubilation. And once again, as

on 29 November, I feel like the
bereaved among the rejoicers.

Alon: Everybody was cheering in
the streets; It was a big thing,

dancing in the streets and all
this. And he was standing in the

back there. And he
was asked, "this is

a great day. This is your dream
come true. 2,000 years we were

in diaspora. You didn't like the
diaspora. You want Hebrew, you

want a state, you want this -
you've got it. "He says," while

the people are dancing here,
what they don't know is tomorrow

we go to war.” and he said,
"there's going to be a big

price.”
Gordon: It wasn't long before

Ben-gurion was proven right. In
the declaration of independence,

he had offered the arabs an
equal place in the new state,

but that night his olive branch
was answered by the roar of

Egyptian warplanes. At one
minute past midnight, they

bombed the city of Tel Aviv, and
at dawn, tanks from five arab

armies rolled into the new state
of Israel. Jewish diplomat abba

eban later recalled that “Israel
knew the taste of birth and the

fear of death in
the same moment."

Gordon: A year later, in 1949,
all sides had grown weary of

fighting. Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan
and Syria signed armistice

agreements with Israel. The
Jewish state had survived the

first of many challenges
to her existence.

Golda: "The story of modern
Israel is essentially the story

of the return to the ancestral
homeland of exiles from

persecution, insecurity and fear
in quest of freedom, human

dignity, independence
and peace."

Dr. medzini: She used to tell us
very often, I never realized

what John hancock meant until I
signed golda meir on that

declaration of independence.
Me, little golda meir,

signing the declaration
of independence.

Gordon: Two days after Israel
declared independence, golda

meir was sent back to America to
raise more funds for the new

Israeli army. For this trip, she
received the first Israeli

passport ever issued. One month
later, she became Israel's first

ambassador to the Soviet union.
She later served as the minister

of labor and as foreign
minister. In the early 1960s,

meir was diagnosed with lymphoma
and briefly retired. But after

the sudden death of prime
minister Levi eshkol in 1969,

she was chosen to replace him.
Meir held the office until 1974

when she resigned amid
controversy over Israel's

handling of the yom kippur war.
She died of lymphoma four years

later, at the age of 80.

Gordon: Two days after
independence, Chaim weizmann was

chosen to be the first president
of the new state of Israel, a

position he held until his
death. In his first official

act, he met with president
Truman to ask for funds to build

the new country. From that
meeting, he secured an export-

import loan of $100 million.

Chaim weizmann: “I take the
first opportunity to express my

heartfelt thanks to the
President of the United States,

and to the government of this
country, for all they have done

in making out of
Israel a reality."

Gordon: The weizmann institute,
founded in 1934, became a world

leader in scientific and medical
research. In 1952, weizmann died

at the age of 77, leaving behind
a legacy as Israel's first great

diplomat.
President Truman: Dr. weizmann's

first name was c-h-a-i-m, and I
didn't know how to pronounced

it, so I called him, "cham." I
called him that to his face, and

he liked it. He was a wonderful
man, one of the wisest people I

think I've ever met. We had a
long, long conversation, and he

explained the situation from his
viewpoint, and I listened to him

very carefully, and at the same
time, I sent for Eddie Jacobson,

and they both sat down and
talked to me for a long, long

time. When we were through, I
said, all right - you two Jews

have put it over on me,
and I'm glad you have."

Gordon: After talking with
weizmann, president Truman

instructed the state department
to support the un's plan for

partition in Palestine, which
they did reluctantly. Then on

may 14th, 1948, president Truman
recognized the new state of

Israel, just eleven minutes
after the British mandate

officially ended.
Warren Austin: "The united

states recognizes the
provisional government as the de

facto authority of
the new state of Israel.”

Gordon: Ten days later, Chaim
weizmann visited the white house

and gave the president a torah
scroll as a symbol of Israel's

gratitude. Truman's response?
"Well, thanks, cham. I've always

wanted one of these.” regarding
his support for Israel, Truman

would later say, “I am Cyrus."
Gil Troy: When Harry Truman, in

retirement, is honored for
having recognized the state of

Israel, the words that come out
of his mouth are "I am Cyrus."

He was the one who helped the
Jews return to the homeland

thousands of years later. And he
was the one who helped the Jews

rebuild the 3rd Jewish
commonwealth. And he was the one

who history was fortunate enough
to have in the right place at

the right time. History was
fortunate, the American people

were fortunate, the Jewish
people were fortunate. He was a

true hero.

Ben-gurion: “I bring to the
American people the warm

greetings of the people of
Israel, and our gratitude for

the unfailing sympathy of
America with our efforts for

independence and regeneration.”

Gordon: David Ben-gurion became
the first prime minister of

Israel, and the first minister
of defense, offices he held for

14 years. He was later named one
of time magazine's "100 most

important people of
the 20th century."

Ben-gurion: “In our revival, we
have been inspired by the

message of our Bible, and by the
traditions of our ancient

history, which elevate the
dignity of man and the principle

of justice and which command
us to love our neighbor."

Gordon: When Ben-gurion retired
from political life, he moved to

a kibbutz in the negev desert
where he spent his final years

writing a history of Israel. In
November of 1973, Ben-gurion

suffered a cerebral hemorrhage
that would take his life two

weeks later. At the same time,
his grandson alon was a patient

in a different hospital. He had
fought as a paratrooper in the

yom kippur war, and was still
recovering from serious

injuries.
Alon: I knew about him that he's

in the hospital, he didn't know
about me. When he asked,

"where's alon?" They said, "ah,
he's in the field, he's fine."

Someone brought me a small TV,
I'll never forget it, and we saw

the funeral through the
television, black and white.

Some of the doctors came, and
they sat with me. The doctors

said, "it's the end of an era.”

Gordon: Since its rebirth,
Israel has survived wars, terror

attacks, and political
opposition to its very

existence. At the time of
independence in 1948, there were

just 650,000 Jews living in
Israel. Today, that number has

grown to more than six million.
And every year, thousands more

from around the world
are coming home.