On this day 64 years ago the Jewish People’s Council approved a proclamation which declared the establishment of the State of Israel. Some 6 months previously, the United Nations had recommended adoption of a plan to partition Palestine, with the British Mandate to be replaced by independent Arab and Jewish states, but the plan was opposed by the Arab community, and civil war broke out after the UN resolution, so the plan was never fully implemented.
In December 1947 Britain announced that the Mandate would end at midnight on 14 May 1948, so it was on that day that the proclamation establishing the State of Israel was made. The Arab States invaded on the next day, starting the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The war carried on, with some interruptions, until the following year when Israel signed a series of Armistice Agreements with neighbouring countries, establishing the Green Line between Israel and surrounding countries.
Several more Arab-Israeli wars followed in ensuing years, with Israel being mostly successful. Israel is a prosperous country, with the highest living standard in the Middle East and one of the highest life expectancies in the world. 75% of the almost 8 million inhabitants are Jewish, although there is a broad spectrum of religious beliefs amongst them, ranging from secularism to ultra-Orthodox.