The Declaration's final words read, “Placing our trust in the Almighty, we affix our signatures…” The earlier wording debate centered on whether the document should explicitly invoke God. “Tzur Yisrael” (“Rock of Israel”) offered a phrase with biblical and national resonance, allowing religious and secular members of the leadership to sign the same text without a detailed creed. The phrase appears in the final document; claims about a unanimous agreement on its meaning go further than the text supports.
From draft to final wording
The document was prepared in the weeks before the British Mandate ended. Its drafts changed as the leadership considered the new state's historical case, institutional arrangements, and public principles. A scholarly analysis of the drafting process traces how the text developed from an initial historical argument into a declaration that also included rights and commitments to the country's inhabitants. The final wording was approved shortly before the May 14 ceremony. The peer-reviewed account of the drafting examines these revisions.
The phrase “Tzur Yisrael” was chosen for the signature clause. In Jewish scripture and prayer, “Rock of Israel” can refer to God; it also carries a national meaning intelligible without a specific theological declaration. This is why the expression is commonly described as a compromise. The final Declaration, however, uses “Placing our trust in the Almighty,” not “Tzur Yisrael,” in its closing sentence in the English text. Readers should distinguish the Hebrew phrase and its drafting history from a claim that it appears verbatim in every translation. The published text and Hebrew-language references make the distinction clear.
What the phrase settled—and what it did not
The formula let religious members read the closing as trust in God and let secular members accept a phrase linked to Israel's national story. Its presence records a practical wording solution at the founding moment. It does not show that every signer held the same religious belief, nor does it prove that the signatories reached a broader agreement about religion and state. The Declaration itself commits the state to freedom of religion and conscience, alongside other civic principles. The Knesset's text sets out those commitments.
There is no need to attribute a decisive role in drafting the phrase to Paula Ben-Gurion: the drafting anecdote has not been established by the named historical sources. The record supports explaining the wording and the documented debate, without repeating a colorful but unsubstantiated story. The Declaration's 37 signatories represented a range of Zionist, religious, and political currents; their signatures certify the document, not a single shared interpretation of its theology. See the signatories and their backgrounds.