Israel's First President

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Israel’s First President

It was on February 14, 1949, that Chaim Weizmann became the first Jew to carry the title “Nasi” or president, in over 1500 years.

Chaim Weizmann, who was born in Russia in 1874, received his education in Switzerland and Germany, where he also worked as a scientist. After his move to England, he was elected to the General Zionist Council. Due to his scientific assistance during the First World War, and good relationship with British leaders, he was able to play a key role in promoting the Balfour Declaration.

Weizman told the Jewish people: “A state cannot be created by decree, but by the forces of a people and in the course of generations. Even if all the governments of the world gave us a country, it would only be a gift of words. But if the Jewish people will build Palestine, the Jewish State will become a reality, a fact.”

Weizman was a general Zionist who stated that: “…the foundation of Zionism was, and continues to be to this day, the yearning of the Jewish people for its homeland, for a national center and a national life.”

Heading the Zionist Commission in 1918 Weizmann was sent to British Mandate Palestine to advise in the future development of the country. In the years that followed he became president of the World Zionist Organization, headed the Jewish Agency, and established a scientific research centre in Rehovot which was later renamed the Weizmann Institute.

Throughout his life, Weizman combined scientific endeavor with Zionist activities and believed that Jewish society could only be built “house by house and dunam by dunam”. As a result, at the age of 60, Weizman practiced what he had preached and went to live in Rehovot.

When America joined the Second World War in 1942, President Roosevelt asked Dr. Weizman to help him find a solution to the problem of manufacturing synthetic rubber for the war effort. On their way to the States the Weizman and his wife heard that their youngest son Michael, a pilot in the Royal Air force, had been killed in action.

Then when the General Assembly of the United Nations called for partition to the land of Israel in November 1947, and the British announced they were going to end their Mandate in May of 1948, Jewish representatives in the US asked Dr. Weizman to try and persuade President Truman to see the need for a Jewish State. Thanks to the help of a personal friend of Truman, Eddie Jacobson, Weizmann was able to meet with the American president, and received the assurance that America would recognize the establishment of a Jewish State.

On May 17, 1948, two days after the State of Israel was born, Dr. Weizmann received a telegram from Israel’s provisionary government:
“On the occasion of establishing the Jewish State we send our greetings to you… we look forward to the day when we will see you President of the State of Israel which will be established in peace.”

In his first speech as President of the State of Israel, Chaim Weizman said:
“We must build a new bridge between science and the human spirit. I have always known that above science there are other noble values which can offer a remedy to the ills of mankind: the values of justice and honesty, peace and brotherhood. Zion will be redeemed in justice and those that return to her with righteousness.”

According to tradition, the inauguration of the Knesset, Israeli Parliament, and their first elected President, took place on Tu b’Shvat, the 14th of February 1949.