provisional government of Israel

{{Short description|1948–49 government led by David Ben-Gurion}}

{{Infobox government cabinet

|cabinet_name = Provisional Cabinet of Israel

|jurisdiction = Israel

|flag = Flag of Israel.svg

|flag_border = true

|date_formed = {{Start date|1948|05|14|df=y}}

|date_dissolved = {{End date|1949|03|10|df=y}}

|government_head = David Ben-Gurion

|image = Ben Gurion 1959.jpg

|legislature_status = Coalition

|political_parties = Mapai
Mapam
Hapoel HaMizrachi
New Aliyah Party
Progressive Party
Sephardim and Oriental Communities
Mizrachi
General Zionists
Agudat Yisrael

|successor = 1st Cabinet of Israel

}}{{Politics of Israel}}

The provisional government of Israel ({{langx|he|הַמֶמְשָׁלָה הַזְמַנִּית}}, translit. HaMemshela HaZmanit) was the temporary cabinet which governed the newly established State of Israel, until the formation of the first government in March 1949 following the first Knesset elections in January that year.

With the British Mandate of Palestine scheduled to come to an end on 15 May 1948, the governing body of the Jewish community, the Jewish National Council (JNC), on 2 March 1948 began work on organization of a Jewish provisional government.{{cite web | url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/37211825/Palestine-Israel-US-State-Department-Records | title=Palestine Israel US State Department Records | publisher=University Publications of America | year=1987 | access-date=October 25, 2011 | author=Nanette Dobrosky | pages=37 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404082715/http://www.scribd.com/doc/37211825/Palestine-Israel-US-State-Department-Records | archive-date=April 4, 2013 }} On 12 April 1948 it formed the Minhelet HaAm ({{langx|he|מנהלת העם}}, lit. People's Administration), all of its members being drawn from Moetzet HaAm (People's Council), the temporary legislative body set up at the same time. The departmental structure of the JNC served as a basis for the interim government ministries.

class=wikitable style="text-align:left" !colspan=4|People's Administration (Minhelet HaAm)
Position !Person !colspan=2|Party
Prime Minister Minister of Defense |David Ben-Gurion |style="background:{{party color|Mapai}}| |Mapai
Minister of Agriculture |Aharon Zisling |style="background:{{party color|Mapam}}| |Mapam
Minister of Finance |Eliezer Kaplan |style="background:{{party color|Mapai}}| |Mapai
Minister of Foreign Affairs |Moshe Sharett |style="background:{{party color|Mapai}}| |Mapai
Minister of Health Minister of Immigration |Haim-Moshe Shapira |style="background:{{party color|Hapoel HaMizrachi}}| |Hapoel HaMizrachi
Minister of Internal Affairs |Yitzhak Gruenbaum |style="background:{{party color|Independent (politician)}}| |Independent
Minister of Justice |Pinchas Rosen |style="background:{{party color|Progressive Party (Israel)}}| |New Aliyah Party/Progressive Party
Minister of Labour and Construction |Mordechai Bentov |style="background:{{party color|Mapam}}| |Mapam
Minister of Police Minority Affairs Minister of Israel |Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit |style="background:{{party color|Sephardim and Oriental Communities}}| |Sephardim and Oriental Communities
Minister of Religions Minister of War Victims |Yehuda Leib Maimon |style="background:{{party color|Mizrachi (political party)}}| |Mizrachi
Minister of Trade and Industry |Peretz Bernstein |style="background:{{party color|General Zionists}}| |General Zionists
Minister of Transportation |David Remez |style="background:{{party color|Mapai}}| |Mapai
Minister of Welfare |Yitzhak-Meir Levin |style="background:{{party color|Agudat Yisrael}}| |Agudat Yisrael

On 12 May, Minhelet HaAm convened to vote on whether to declare independence. Three of the thirteen members were missing, with Yehuda Leib Maimon and Yitzhak Gruenbaum being stuck in Jerusalem, whilst Yitzhak-Meir Levin was in the United States. The meeting started at 1:45 in the afternoon and ended after midnight. The decision was between accepting the American proposal for a truce, or declaring independence. The latter option was put to a vote, with six of the ten members present supporting it:

• For: David Ben-Gurion, Mordechai Bentov, Moshe Sharett (Mapai), Peretz Bernstein (General Zionists), Haim-Moshe Shapira (Hapoel HaMizrachi), Aharon Zisling (Mapam).
• Against: Eliezer Kaplan, David Remez (Mapai), Pinchas Rosen (New Aliyah Party), Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit (Sephardim and Oriental Communities).

On 14 May, the day Israel declared independence, Minhelet HaAm became the Provisional government, whilst Moetzet HaAm became the Provisional State Council. The Provisional government was promptly recognised by the United States as the de facto authority of Israel,[https://web.archive.org/web/20090714121509/http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/viewArticle.arc?articleId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1948-05-15-04-001&pageId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1948-05-15-04 End of Palestine mandate], The Times, 15 May 1948{{Cite web|author=Harry S. Truman Library and Museum|title=The Recognition of the State of Israel|url=http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/israel/large/index.php|access-date=25 November 2011|archive-date=8 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208195648/https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/israel/large/index.php|url-status=dead}} followed by Iran (which had voted against the UN partition plan), Guatemala, Iceland, Nicaragua, Romania, and Uruguay. The Soviet Union granted official recognition to Israel on 17 May 1948,{{Cite book|author=Hashim S. H. Behbehani|title=The Soviet Union and Arab nationalism, 1917-1966|year=1986|page=69|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-7103-0213-7}} followed by Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Ireland, and South Africa.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}} The United States extended de jure recognition after the first Israeli election,[http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/israel/large/documents/index.php?documentdate=1949-01-31&documentid=1-15&collectionid=ROI&pagenumber=1 Press Release, 31 January 1949. Official File, Truman Papers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207140829/https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/israel/large/documents/index.php?documentdate=1949-01-31&documentid=1-15&collectionid=ROI&pagenumber=1 |date=2017-12-07 }} Truman Library on 31 January 1949.[http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/israel/large/index.php The Recognition of the State of Israel: Introduction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190208195648/https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/israel/large/index.php |date=2019-02-08 }} Truman Library