Israeli History Davar on the Final British Withdrawal from Palestine and Haifa 1948

End of British Mandate

Periodical

Davar, 1 July 1948, records the final British military withdrawal from Palestine and the transfer of authority at Haifa less than seven weeks after the declaration of the State of Israel on May 14. Published by the Histadrut labor movement, the Hebrew daily reports these events from within the political culture of Labor Zionism during the opening months of Israeli statehood and the 1948 Arab Israeli War. Its front page announces that “the last British soldiers left yesterday” and reports the entry of the Jewish Navy into the Port of Haifa, directly documenting the end of the remaining British military presence and Israeli control of a port that had served as a principal base of British authority in Palestine.

Davar. Tel Aviv. 1 July 1948. Complete Hebrew language issue of four large pages, each measuring 17 × 23 inches, twice folded. The front page gives prominent placement to the British departure and events at Haifa. British forces completed their evacuation at the end of June 1948, lowering the British flag as Israeli authorities assumed control of the port; contemporary reports record the transfer of port facilities and guard posts and the raising of the Israeli flag. Davar was the official newspaper of the Histadrut, founded in 1925 as a newspaper for the workers of Eretz Israel, and its coverage preserves the labor movement's contemporaneous reporting of the military and governmental changes accompanying the new state's first weeks.

The July 1 date places the issue immediately after the completion of Britain's withdrawal and during the first phase of the 1948 Arab Israeli War, when control of Haifa and its harbor carried military, logistical, and political consequences for the newly established state. The issue consequently documents both a specific transfer of authority and the way a major Histadrut newspaper presented that transfer to Hebrew readers during the first months of Israeli independence. Minor cuts are confined to the central fold, consistent with age and handling; paper remains sound and the issue is complete. Very good overall.

Item #12703

Price: $285.00