Day 103 of 599 of מלחמת העצמאות MILḤEMET HAʾAẒMAʾUT (War of Independence)

The official accounts place the blast at about 09:43–09:46. They describe a vehicle with consular connections entering the compound. The initial and supplementary reports differ over details, including the flag and the investigation's access to witnesses. event://5708־12a־30־jewish־agency־bombing preserves those differences and explains why the vehicle does not by itself establish American authorization.^{1 2}

The same-day diary recorded an early toll. Subsequent returns increased the reported deaths to thirteen and divided injuries by severity. These are evolving counts of one attack. לייב יפה LEIB YAFFE was among those killed; his work in קרן היסוד KEREN HAʾYESOD makes clear that the victims included people sustaining national institutions.^{3 4}

A bulletin published on 11 March described a proposed thirteen-member cabinet and unresolved approval. Its issue date does not prove that all negotiations occurred that day or that the proposed cabinet had taken office. The preparations show a community building political authority before independence, under conditions of lethal insecurity.⁵

The bombing and the negotiations are related parts of the same national predicament. One attacked institutional life; the other sought to create the authority needed to protect and administer it. Neither event permits a premature claim that statehood had already arrived.

This is Day 103 of the 599-day civil-date series: 1948-03-11. Its daytime portion maps to ל׳ באדר א׳ ה׳תש״ח 30th 𝑜𝑓 Adar I, AM 5708. After local sunset, the Hebrew date changes to א׳ באדר ב׳ ה׳תש״ח 1st 𝑜𝑓 Adar II, AM 5708. This convention does not establish the hour of an individual event.

The bombing occurred in daylight on 11 March, 30 Adar I. The cabinet account is tied to its 11 March publication; its proposal and ratification remain separate. Later casualty returns, funerals and warrants belong to the bombing’s aftermath. ⁶

• How did the bombing endanger the institutions preparing national sovereignty?
• Why do successive casualty returns describe one attack rather than additional deaths?