On December 9, 1949, the U.N. General Assembly voted to implement the resolution to internationalize Jerusalem, according to the Partition Plan passed on November 29, 1947, which stipulated that Jerusalem was to become an internationalized city. Haaretz reported that as soon as the results of the vote were publicized, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion said that “Jerusalem is an integral part of Israel and its eternal capital. No United Nations vote can change such a historical fact.”

Moshe Sharett, who was foreign minister at the time, also reacted to the announcement saying that the United Nations had no way of implementing such a resolution. The Haaretz correspondent reported that “in a speech he delivered before the vote, Sharett said that the Israeli government would be willing to accept the Dutch-Swedish plan for international supervision of the holy sites as a basis for discussions. The Jews of Jerusalem, he warned, left no doubt in the hearts of anyone regarding their intentions and determination to reject the internationalization plan. They will not recognize any foreign government in the city other than the Israeli government.”

After the vote, Sharett said: “This is a black day for the United Nations. Those who initiated this resolution took upon themselves serious responsibility for the moral authority of the United Nations.” After the declaration establishing the State of Israel (5 Iyar 5708 / May 14,1948 ), the government and the Knesset set up base in Tel Aviv. At the end of the War of Independence, infrastructure work started that would enable their offices to be moved to Jerusalem, and on December 13, 1949, Ben-Gurion delivered a formal statement to the Knesset announcing the move, which received the following coverage in Haaretz: “The government of Israel and the Knesset will move to a permanent seat in Jerusalem after the Knesset last night approved, with no objections, Prime Minister Ben-Gurion’s declaration in which he repeated his statement of last week regarding Jerusalem and declared Jerusalem the eternal capital of Israel.”

Haaretz’s correspondent described the festive session. “At 5, the prime minister entered the hall, where all the seats were filled as were all the chairs of the cabinet members,” he wrote. “A dramatic silence descended on the room. Three knocks on the gavel, and Mr. Sprinzak opened the session in an emotional voice.” The prime minister said: “In the heat of the war, when Jerusalem was under siege, we were compelled to establish a temporary seat for the government in the Kirya, near Tel Aviv. But the State of Israel has had and will have only one capital, eternal Jerusalem. This was the case 3,000 years ago, and so it shall be, as we believe, until the end of time.” After Ben-Gurion’s remarks, “a thundering silence resonated through the room. What will be now?”

Not all the Knesset factions supported the prime minister’s unilateral approach. Haaretz’s correspondent reported that the opposition factions, as had been agreed, presented brief notices stating their positions on the prime minister’s announcement. For the most part, they supported the move, but each one of them highlighted the government’s accountability for the situation that emerged with the passage of the U.N. resolution.” At the end of the session, the Knesset speaker declared, “the Knesset’s sessions after the Hanukkah holiday will reconvene in Jerusalem.”

The day after the declaration, a Haaretz editorial stated “in the Knesset sessions yesterday it was possible to find both positive and negative elements. It was undoubtedly an encouraging sight that despite the sharp disagreements dividing the Knesset, all the factions, except for the Communists, found a way to support the proposal Mr. Ben-Gurion presented in the name of the government. Less encouraging was the fact that the common denominator which enabled this unity among the coalition and opposition factions was the widespread willingness to agree to the not well thought out demand of many [members] for an aggressive ‘response’ to the U.N. resolution to internationalize Jerusalem.” On the same day, Haaretz’s Jerusalem correspondent reported that “the prime minister came to Jerusalem and began to work on the practical aspects of transfering the government and the Knesset to the national capital. He was received at the city entrance by the mayor, the district supervisor and the commander of the Jerusalem police.” (Yael Gruenpeter )