[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 58 (Thursday, April 22, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E633-E634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING ISRAELI INDEPENDENCE DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 21, 2010

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize and celebrate the 62nd 
Anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel. Much like our 
July 4th, this day commemorates the date on which David Ben Gurion read 
the formal Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel 
drafted by a coalition of zionist leaders, voted on by the People's 
Council (Moetzet Ha'am) and signed by 37 founding mothers and fathers 
of the Jewish State.
  On November 29, 1947, the United Nations approved a partition plan to 
take effect upon the expiration of the British Mandate. The partition 
plan was immediately rejected by the Arabs and armies from Egypt, Iraq, 
Jordan, Lebanon and Syria attacked to try to destroy the fledgling 
Jewish State before it could be established. During the War of 
Independence, the Jewish Settlement (Yishuv), under the leadership of 
David Ben Gurion, formally established the State of Israel.
  The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel was 
signed on May 14, 1948, which fell on the 5th of the Hebrew Month of 
Iyar, the date the British Mandate over Palestine expired. At a 
ceremony held at the Tel Aviv Museum, now known as Independence Hall, 
David Ben Gurion read the Declaration and 25 of the 37 signatories 
formally affixed their signatures before a crowd of 250 invited guests 
and a radio audience of countless listeners. Eleven of those who 
ultimately signed the Declaration were trapped in Jerusalem which was 
then under seige; the 12th was abroad at the time of the ceremony.
  Eleven minutes after the declaration was signed, President Truman de 
facto recognized the State of Israel. America shares an unshakable bond 
with Israel, born of our shared values and our common outlook. We are 
both nations of immigrants that believe the path to success lies in 
invention, creation and investment. We are both nations that believe in 
the rule of law and the importance of a

[[Page E634]]

strong and independent judiciary. We are both nations that were created 
by pioneers seeking religious freedom. We are both pluralistic nations 
in which what you know and what you create is more important than who 
you are and where you came from. And, the United States must stand with 
Israel and must work to ensure that Israel endures as a Jewish State.
  In the 62 years that followed its establishment, Israel has survived 
and flourished despite the repeated efforts to destroy her. Israel is a 
vigorous democracy, our strongest ally in the Middle East. Her economy 
is thriving, in large part as a result of her agricultural, 
technological and medical innovations. With a free and active press, 
freedom of religion, free elections and a free and independent 
judiciary, Israelis of all religions and nationalities enjoy rights and 
opportunities unimaginable elsewhere in the Middle East.
  Israel constitutes a fraction of 1% of the land mass and only 2% of 
the population of the Middle East. Nonetheless, Israel far outshines 
much of the world in terms of academic, scientific and technological 
achievement. Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees per 
capita in the world and produces more scientific papers and more books 
per capita than any other nation in the world. It is the only nation in 
the world that has had a net increase in the number of trees. Israel 
has transformed itself from an impoverished backwater to a gleaming 
modern nation, ranking among the very highly developed countries of the 
world.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to congratulate Israel for its 62 years of 
independence, innovation and enterprise.

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