Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"The Jewish nation had waited 600 generations for this day. . . . At 4 P.M. David Ben-Gurion entered the museum and rapped a gavel on the table for attention. After the singing of the national anthem, the Hatikyah, he read out a declaration of independence. The document was then signed by the 37 members of the National Council. Israel was officially in being, with Ben-Gurion as its first prime minister. . . . When violence erupted between the two communities, the matter went to the United Nations, whose recommendation for partition was accepted by the Jews but not the Arabs. Israel's birth was thus highly traumatic." [Furtado: 1001 Days]