Provisional government of Israel

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The provisional government of Israel (Hebrew: הממשלה הזמנית‎, HaMemshela HaZmanit) was the temporary cabinet which governed Israel from shortly before independence until the formation of the first government in March 1949 following the first Knesset elections in January that year.

It was formed as Minhelet HaAm (Hebrew: מנהלת העם‎, lit. People's Administration) on 12 April 1948, in preparation for independence just over a month later. All its members were taken from Moetzet HaAm (People's Council), the temporary legislative body set up at the same time. On 12 May, Minhelet HaAm convened to vote on whether to declare independence. Three of the members were missing; Yehuda Leib Maimon and Yitzhak Gruenbaum were stuck in Jerusalem, whilst Yitzhak-Meir Levin was in the United States.

The meeting started at 1:45 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 was converted into the Provisional government, whilst Moetzet HaAm became the Provisional State Council.

The Cabinet
Position	Person	Party
Prime Minister Minister of Defense	David Ben-Gurion	Mapai
Minister of Agriculture	Aharon Zisling	Mapam
Minister of Finance	Eliezer Kaplan	Mapai
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Moshe Sharett	Mapai
Minister of Health Minister of Immigration	Haim-Moshe Shapira	Hapoel HaMizrachi
Minister of Internal Affairs	Yitzhak Gruenbaum	Independent
Minister of Justice	Pinchas Rosen	New Aliyah Party/Progressive Party
Minister of Labour and Construction	Mordechai Bentov	Mapam
Minister of Police Minority Affairs Minister of Israel	Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit	Sephardim and Oriental Communities
Minister of Religions and War Victims	Yehuda Leib Maimon	Mizrachi
Minister of Trade and Industry	Peretz Bernstein	General Zionists
Minister of Transportation	David Remez	Mapai
Minister of Welfare	Yitzhak-Meir Levin	Agudat Yisrael

External links

• Provisional State Council: Provisional Government Knesset website