The blockade of Jerusalem began during the first few days of the War of Independence, spreading from the Old City’s Jewish Quarter to the rest of Jerusalem. These color photos from 1948 show us what life was like in the city that was cut off from the rest of the country…
The Story of the Daring Pilot Zahara Levitov
Zahara Levitov was a Palmach fighter and among the first women to fly planes in the newly established IDF, but her service was cut short by a tragic crash
The Cry
A lamentation for Nechama, mother of Alec
David Ben David Cheated Death… and Missed Israel’s Birth
He swam to Haifa in 1940, unknowingly escaping the ill-fated “Patria”, then spent most of the 1948 war as a POW, saved from death more than once by his Arab Legion captors
The Surrender of the Old City’s Jewish Quarter
The tragic circumstances that led to the surrender of the Jewish Quarter’s defenders in Jerusalem’s Old City during the War of Independence
Yitzhak Rabin’s First Peace Negotiation (and Necktie)
The twentysomething officer had never been abroad nor worn a suit
The Last Voice: The Story of Hadassah Lempel
A chilling letter found in the National Library archives tells the story of Hadassah Lempel, whose voice was the last one heard during one of the fatal Battles of Latrun in 1948
When the Egyptians Bombed Tel Aviv
Despite its somewhat hedonistic and detached image, the city of Tel Aviv faced its share of difficulties during the War of Independence. So what does Leonard Bernstein have to do with all this?
A Diary from Jerusalem Under Siege
“I’m very thirsty and there isn’t a drop of water in the house. I must go down to the street, perhaps I’ll find something to drink, and thus I must cease my writing.” A peek into the siege diary of Menachem Zvi Kadari, a resident of the Old City during Israel’s War of Independence.
The Mother Who Stayed Behind to Defend Her Home During Israel’s War of Independence
Zipporah Rosenfeld, a fighter and a mother, faced an impossible dilemma: family or country?
