In honor of Yom Ha-Atsma’ut, archivists have released images of two pages of David Ben-Gurion’s personal diary, written on the evening after he and his provisional government declared the formation of a Jewish state. The rest of the diary has yet to be located. The Times of Israel reports:

“At 4 p.m., Jewish independence was declared and the state was founded. Its fate is in the hands of the security forces,” he wrote.

He described the difficult situation on the ground as the armies of the Arab League invaded: “Harsh news about armored columns of the [Arab] Legion; . . . they bombed Tel Aviv last night.

“Almost all [general] staff members opposed my view to attack with greater force and more stubborn energy to conquer the areas around the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway. . . . I feel that they missed and are missing the conquest that will determine the fate of Jerusalem—and perhaps the fate of the entire campaign.”

Ben-Gurion also noted his trepidation about the fierce war that had started several months previously: “Across the land, there is joy and profound happiness, and again I mourn among the joyful.”

Yesterday, the Iranian foreign minister flew to Geneva to meet with European diplomats. President Trump, meanwhile, indicated that cease-fire negotiations might soon begin with Iran, which would presumably involve Tehran agreeing to make concessions regarding its nuclear program, while Washington pressures Israel to halt its military activities. According to Israeli media, Iran already began putting out feelers to the U.S. earlier this week. Aviram Bellaishe considers the purpose of these overtures:

The regime’s request to return to negotiations stems from the principle of deception and delay that has guided it for decades. Iran wants to extricate itself from a situation of total destruction of its nuclear facilities. It understands that to save the nuclear program, it must stop at a point that would allow it to return to it in the shortest possible time. So long as the negotiation process leads to halting strikes on its military capabilities and preventing the destruction of the nuclear program, and enables the transfer of enriched uranium to a safe location, it can simultaneously create the two tracks in which it specializes—a false facade of negotiations alongside a hidden nuclear race.