Israel became an independent modern state in 1948, when David Ben-Gurion declared its establishment on May 14.
The declaration took place in Tel Aviv as the British Mandate for Palestine was ending. Ben-Gurion, leader of the Jewish Agency and head of the provisional government, read the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel at a ceremony in the former Tel Aviv Museum. The new state’s independence took effect before the mandate formally ended at midnight.
The declaration followed the United Nations Partition Plan of November 1947, which proposed separate Jewish and Arab states in the former mandate territory. The plan was not implemented as intended, and Israel’s declaration was followed by war with neighboring Arab states. Armistice agreements in 1949 established the initial postwar boundaries.
The year should not be confused with the much older history of Jewish kingdoms in the region. This trivia question concerns the establishment of the modern State of Israel, whose founding date is May 14, 1948.