The Last-Minute Decision That Gave Israel Its Name
Ever? Judea? Zion?
April 29, 2020
The Last-Minute Decision That Gave Israel Its Name
Ever? Judea? Zion?
When David Ben-Gurion declared “the establishment of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel” 72 years ago today (according to the Jewish calendar), very few people were aware of the decision, made just four days earlier, to call this new country “the state of Israel.” Most assumed its name would be Judea, although other contestants were Zion, Ever (the root of the word Hebrew), or simply “the Land of Israel.” In an essay drawn from a lecture in his new online course on Israeli independence, Martin Kramer writes:
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