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Introduction: From Yishuv to State—The Forging of a Nation For the Zionist movement, the 1948 War and the subsequent establishment of the State of Israel represented a monumental triumph—the culmination of a half-century of political struggle and settlement. Yet, the declaration of independence on May 14, 1948, was not the end of a journey but the dramatic beginning of a new and even more daunting one. The fledgling state, having secured its sovereignty through a costly war, now faced the immense dual challenge of absorbing a staggering wave of Jewish immigration while simultaneously building the institutions of a modern state…