First Day Cover With the First Ever Stamp Issued Under an Independent Israeli Government

The curation started weeks prior to Ben Gurion’s Declaration of Independence, and was kept secret as it was illegal to issue stamps not under British authority. In issuing the first stamps, the Jewish organizers faced this challenge; They needed to find sufficient printing sources, as well as decide on the stamps’ design and content. One additional dilemma was: what would be the new state’s name to be printed on the stamps? This crucial detail had not yet been determined, as Jewish leaders were debating between “Yehuda”, “Israel” and “Eretz-Israel” amongst other options. Ultimately it was chosen to name the stamps “Doar Ivri” (“Hebrew Post”).

In order to keep the issuing process confidential, it was impossible to use large printing facilities without the risk of being caught. Therefore, the first batch of stamps were printed at newspaper Ha’aretz’ small printing house, which was transferred to a secret location in Tel Aviv for this very purpose. There was also a lack of quality paper to use, and not enough time to wait for more to be imported. As a result, some stamps were printed on substandard paper.

When forming every aspect of the new Jewish state’s symbolism, it was of importance for the Zionists to signify the struggles toward and times of Jewish sovereignty in the land. Having this notion in mind, Jewish leadership had asked 3 graphic artists to pitch their design ideas. The selected designs were created by Otte Wallish, with imagery inspired by ancient coins from the epoch of wars of the Second Temple and Bar Kochva.

Despite the obstacles, the first set of Israeli stamps were sold on Sunday, May 16th 1948, two days after the Declaration of Independence (Saturday is the day of rest, thus Sunday was the first day of business following the declaration). They included values ranging from 3-1000 mils.

This commemorative first day cover, stamped with a 3 mil’ Doar Ivri, dated May 16th, 1948, features 2 prints— The first (on the right) describes the United Nation’s vote, the second (on the left) is a Hebrew copy of the Balfour Declaration.  This was the mailed copy sent to Z. Ratner.