World Jewish News

1st government meeting made public

The Government Secretariat on Monday published rare papers documenting the first government meeting in Israel, just ahead of the state's 62nd Independence Day.
The meeting, which took place in Tel Aviv just two days after the state was established in 1948, on May 16, hosted a debate on the selection of ministers and updates on the situation at the front.
Cabinet Secretary Tzvi Hauser said the public now had a rare chance to learn about the moments immediately following Israel's founding. "It's exciting to see with the perspective of time gone by how things were handled, and how historical decisions still affecting our lives today were made," he said.
On Sunday, May 16, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, who was serving as both prime minister and defense minister, opened the meeting with the following speech:
"We will open the first meeting of the provisional government and hear a report by Moshe Shertok (Sharett). I assume as self-evident, if there has not been a decision on this matter yet, that any discussion during these meetings, whether important or not, is certainly confidential and no one is permitted to discuss it with anyone else, not even his close friends or confidantes, because these are matters of the state and not of the people participating in these meetings."
State releases papers documenting first meeting of provisional government led by Ben-Gurion, just two days after Israel's founding, in which leaders are briefed on situation at front and decide on title of 'minister'

By Roni Sofer

ynetnews.com