In light of the concerted attack on the State of Israel and Zionism since the October 7 massacre, and a week before Israel’s Independence Day, two human rights organizations have formally recognized the exceptional global significance of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, describing it as a foundational milestone for human dignity, civil liberties, and the right to self-determination.
In a joint ceremony in Porto on Sunday, The International Human Rights Observatory and B’nai B’rith Portugal emphasized that the declaration creating the Jewish state transcends borders and history, serving not only as the founding document of the State of Israel, but as a defining moment in the modern human rights movement.
Leaders from the two organizations presented Israel’s Ambassador to Portugal, Oren Rozenblat, with an official recognition highlighting the profound and enduring positive impact of Israel’s creation on Jewish communities worldwide and the world at large.
"We note that after two millennia of dispersion and persecution, the establishment of a sovereign Jewish state transformed the condition of the Jewish diaspora," said Dr. Luis Andrade, President of The International Human Rights Observatory. "For the first time in centuries, Jews were no longer solely dependent on the protection or tolerance of others, but had a state capable of guaranteeing their security, representation, and dignity on the international stage. The return of an ancient indigenous people to their ancestral homeland, in the face of centuries of conquest, enslavement, oppression, occupation and colonization served as an example for all peoples."
The recognition underscored that Israel has since become the symbolic and cultural center of global Jewish life, as well as a source of renewal for younger generations. It also pointed to the reciprocal relationship between Israel and the diaspora, which together form a unified front in the defense of Jewish human rights and communal freedoms.
The organizations further stressed that Israel’s political and security institutions provide not only physical protection to Jewish communities, but also an essential form of intangible support, safeguarding their ability to live openly as Jews and to maintain independent religious and communal life without interference.
Israeli Ambassador to Portugal Oren Rozenblat reflected on the enduring meaning of the founding moment itself, stating: "The Declaration of Independence of Israel’s event that lasted thirty minutes, was a moment in which hope, preserved in whispered prayers for generations over millennia, finally became ground and flag. The document called for peace with its Arab neighbors and summoned the Jews of the diaspora to a just return to their ancestral homeland, after centuries of silence and exile."
Against the backdrop of rising antisemitism in Europe, voices from Jewish communities across the continent reinforced the urgency and contemporary relevance of these findings.
Debora Walfrid Elijah, from the Jewish community of Golders Green in London, where four Hatzalah ambulances were recently set on fire near her home, said: "As antisemitism re-emerges with alarming visibility on the streets of London, Israel’s existence stands as a strategic and moral necessity and the only sovereign guarantee that the Jewish people will never again be left defenseless, voiceless, or dependent on the shifting tolerance of others for their survival."
Miriam Assor, a Lisbon-based journalist and daughter of the Moroccan rabbi who led the Portuguese Jewish community between 1944 and 1993, added: "When adversity against Jews spreads unchecked through the streets of Portugal, and all this happens amidst the convenient silence of the political elites, the state of Israel is seen by the Jewish community as its ultimate protection and symbol of Jewish autonomy, something that had never happened in centuries of inescapable persecution."
Both Miriam Assor and Debora Walfrid Elijah represented B’nai B’rith Portugal at the ceremony.
Yonah Yaphe, a Canadian doctor who has lived in Porto for decades and is secretary of B’nai B’rith Portugal, recalled his childhood, recounting, "The tense days of the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War mobilized the Jewish community in Canada in support of Israel. Identity, pride and hope remain the pillars that support the Jewish community in Canada because of its strong identification with Israel."
The joint ceremony concluded by framing Israel’s Declaration of Independence as both a historic and living document, one that continues to underpin the inalienable rights of the Jewish people while standing as an enduring symbol of freedom and self-determination for nations worldwide.