In all but one of the instances in which “rights” appear in the Israeli declaration, they refer to a collective right, not an individual one.

On May 14, 1948, Israel’s founders wanted to emphasize to the world that while the Jewish people had been born in the Land of Israel, its state was the adopted child of the United Nations.

Israel’s sixth prime minister was a leader of consequence and achievement. But how does he relate to Israel’s origins?

Going by the usual telling of the founding, religious and secular Jews clashed over whether Israel’s declaration should evoke God’s covenantal promise. How accurate is that account?

The name Israel came by a process of elimination, because there wasn’t time to come up with anything better.

The declaration came together so hurriedly that if the drafters had argued for even a few hours more it would have read much differently.

The beginning of a new series investigating how the Israeli Declaration of Independence came about, and what the text reveals about the country it brought into being.

The historian Martin Kramer interviews the former American ambassador to Israel in order to discover how the historic Middle East deals came together.

Eugene Kontorovich thinks that the 1920 San Remo conference sits at the foundation of Israel’s legitimacy. Martin Kramer disagrees. Who’s right?

Five more of our regular writers pick several favorites each, featuring what Jews are for, magicians, assassins, call signs, chaos, separated siblings, and more.

As a Jew, I wish that the resolution signed 100 years ago had been what today’s celebrants claim it was. As a historian of Israel, I must report that it was much less.

Born within four years of each other, David Ben-Gurion and Abdullah bin Hussein emerged out of the same political womb to forge Israel and Jordan in battle. Both nations should be grateful.

So goes the accusation. But the public commitment Britain made to the Jews in Palestine is very different from the Sykes-Picot accord and other secret “treaties” carving up native lands.

The American billionaire Sheldon Adelson just paid $87 million for the seaside residence of America’s ambassadors to Israel. The house has an interesting history.

A famous and sorely misunderstood painting of Napoleon touching plague victims in Palestine illuminates the current moment.

Some of Mosaic’s regular writers reflect on Neal Kozodoy and his accomplishments.

Six more Mosaic writers share their favorites, featuring shadow strikes, orchards, gleanings, constitutional evolutions and revolutions, serotonin, odd women, and more.

It’s said that the Oslo peace process was born in that room in Jerusalem in 1992. The truth is much different.

How Zionist leaders held Britain to its promise of a Jewish national home.

From the Yom Kippur War to the Arab Spring, events considered impossible happen in the Middle East with unusual frequency. Here are seven; when will the eighth appear?

At each point—1897, 1917, and 1947—one Jewish leader appeared, and showed greatness.

On Martin Luther King Day, the ghost of the great civil-rights leader was summoned to condemn Israel. The problem? While alive, King had plenty of opportunities to do so—and never did.

In the hit show, Queen Elizabeth II puts the British prime minister in check for his secret plan to attack Egypt. In real life, he was checkmated by David Ben-Gurion.

One-hundred years ago, over a lunch, the internationalization of Jerusalem became irrelevant—and it remains so.

The Jewish state has grown dramatically over the last seven decades. But it enjoyed greater freedom of action in its earliest years, when it wasn’t so closely tied to the United States.

The Lebanese-born scholar knew more about the Jewish state than any Arab intellectual of his generation.