The postage stamps and postal history of Israel is a survey of the postage stamps issued by the state of Israel, and its postal history, since independence was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. The first postage stamps were issued two days later on May 16, 1948. [1] Pre-1948 postal history is discussed in postage stamps and postal history of Palestine.
The postal history of Israel builds upon the centuries-long development of postal services in Palestine. During the rule of the Mamluks, mounted mail service was operated in Deir al-Balah, Lydda and other towns on the Cairo to Damascus route. [2] During the Ottoman period, postal services relied upon Turkey's stamps. Foreign consulates set up the early post offices. [3] During World War I, the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force occupied Palestine and demarcated stamps as "E.E.F." in 1918.
During the British Mandate, postage stamps and services were provided by British authorities. At first using temporary stamps issued in February 1918 by the British Expeditionary Forces in Palestine, and in February 1920 issuing permanent stamps bearing the imprint: "Palestine Eretz Israel." From 1933 to 1948, mandate services included airmail stamps [4] and, as an innovation, air letter cards .
In April 1948, the British discontinued all postal services, and post offices and operations were, in part, turned over to the Israeli government. [5] In May 1948, as the British withdrew and postal services broke down, the provisional government issued overprints on Jewish National Fund stamps and ad hoc postage was created in Nahariya and Safed.
Stamps have been issued by Israel Post, the Israeli postal operator, since Sunday, 16 May 1948, the first business day after Israel declared independence, Saturday being a day of rest. [6] The first set of stamps was entitled Doar Ivri ("Hebrew Post") because the country's name had not yet been chosen. [7] The first set of definitive stamps included values of 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 50, 250, 500, and 1000 mils. The stamps were printed by letterpress, perforated or as a rouletted variation, and with Israel's emblematic "tabs" with marginalia about the stamp. Stamp booklets were issued for the 5, 10, 15 and 20 mil stamps. [8] The Doar Ivri stamps were designed by Otte Wallish using ancient coins from the First Jewish–Roman War and later Bar Kokhba revolt (as pictured at top of article).
Israeli stamps are trilingual, in Arabic, English and Hebrew, following the practice of the British Mandate of Palestine (as required by the League of Nations). Israel Post first issued postage due stamps, tête-bêche and gutter pairs in 1948, airmail stamps in 1950, service stamps, for government offices, in 1951 and provisional stamps in 1960. [9] The tabs have gone through three unofficial phases. From 1948 to 1954, the tabs were written in Hebrew (with four exceptions: the Maccabia, Israel Bonds, Zionist Congress and Z.O.A. stamps). From 1954 until 1967, the inscriptions were usually in Hebrew and French. Since 1967, the tabs are typically Hebrew and English. Rarely, a tab is matched with the wrong stamp, as with two mix-ups on some Doar Ivri stamps. [10]
From the outset, Israel created its own commemorative cancellations, including a first day cancel for the new Doar Ivri on May 16, 1948, and cancels for the Maccabiah Games and its major cities the same year. [11] By 1960, more than 325 unique postmarks had been designed. [12] Beginning with the Doar Ivri stamps, too, Israel has provided first day covers. For instance, on July 5, 1967, a first day cover featuring Moshe Dayan was issued from the new post office in Jerusalem, soon after the Six-Day War. [13]
Israel has 64 post offices in 1950, expanding to 114 by 1960 and, after the Six-Day War, to 178 branches by 1970. [14] In 1955, two settlements in the Negev began Israel's first mobile post office, a red truck. By 1990, Israel ran 53 routes for 1,058 locations, including Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. [15]
Due to hyperinflation, in 1982 and 1984 Israel issued non-denominated stamps with an olive branch design. These stamps were said to be dreary yet convenient, insofar as they avoided the need for both the government and the customers to constantly update their postage. [16]
During the 1990s, Israel experimented with vending machines for postal labels (franking labels). The Klussendorf machines and their labels were withdrawn from service in 1999. Twenty-two colorful designs were issued, including 12 tourist sites and seven holiday season designs. [17] Israel Post also provides the Express Mail Service in cooperation with 143 other postal authorities. [18]
The Israel Defense Forces provide mail services for the military. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, for example, the IDF postal agency issued a series of postcards with cartoons to boost morale. Postcards show an Israeli cartoon character looming over Damascus, hail and fire raining down on Egyptian pyramids (quoting Exodus 9:24), and "Judgment Day, pictured here." [19]
In its early years, Israel issued stamps picturing the Jewish holidays, Jerusalem, Petah Tikva, the Negev, the Maccabiah Games, and Independence bonds. Every year, Israel issues a festival series to commemorate Rosh Hashanah. In 1948, the festival series featured the "flying scrolls." [20] In a self-reflective gesture, the postal authority also issued a souvenir sheet commemorating its own first stamps. In 1952, Israel issued its first stamp honoring a named person, Chaim Weizmann. Other honorees of the 1950s included Theodor Herzl, Edmond de Rothschild, Albert Einstein, Sholem Aleichem, Hayim Nahman Bialik and Eliezer Ben-Yehuda. The first woman honored was Henrietta Szold (1960), the first rabbi was the Baal Shem Tov (1961), and the first non-Jew was Eleanor Roosevelt (1964).
In 1998, Israel was the first country to honor Chiune Sugihara, who has since been honored on stamps from Gambia, Grenada, Guinea, Japan, Liberia, Lithuania, and Sierra Leone. [21] Stamps were issued in memory of two Arab leaders, King Hassan II of Morocco and King Hussein of Jordan, in 2000.
Researchers at Emory University found that, through 2005, 161 Israeli stamps deal with women, though most do so anonymously. Of the 45 stamps dedicated to individual women, 11 concerned Biblical characters and eight were of fighters: Haviva Reik, Hannah Szenes, Rachel Yanait Ben Zvi, Rivka Guber, Rene Levy, Zivia Lubetkin, Sarah Aaronsohn, and an unnamed member of the Jewish Brigade. [22]
Israeli stamps cover general themes, including philately itself, such as the 1954 stamp exhibition in Jerusalem, as well as themes emblematic of the state, such as Judaism and Jewish history. For instance, in its first 40 years, nearly 10% of Israeli stamps included archeological motifs, for intellectual and ideological reasons. [23]
The country produced a total of 110 new issues in the 1960s, 151 in the 1970s, 162 in the 1980s and 216 in the 1990s. [24] Israel Post produces several dozen new issues each year: 40 new issues in 2000, 33 in 2001, 50 in 2002, 46 in 2003, 38 in 2004, 42 in 2005, 38 in 2006, and 44 in 2007. In 2008, new issues have honored Israel Rokach and Akiva Aryeh Weiss, two UNESCO World Heritage Sites (The Biblical Tels and the Incense Route), and Mekorot (the national water system).
Since its 1993 stamp for the 50th anniversary of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, issued jointly with Poland, [25] such joint issue stamps have been produced with other postal authorities and in 1996, a joint Hanukkah stamp was issued with the United States, in miniature sheet format. This was Israel's first self-adhesive stamp.
On January 27, 2008, a joint issue with the United Nations debuted for International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Stamps were also issued jointly with Germany (in 2005) to honor their diplomatic relations, Austria and Hungary (2004, honoring Theodor Herzl), Italy (2004, honoring the Great Synagogue of Rome), Georgia (in 2001, honoring Shota Rustaveli), and Hungary (in 2001, honoring the Dohány Synagogue of Budapest). [26]
Israel Post has been forced on a number of occasions to withdraw certain stamps which caused concern in religious circles. In November 2006 a stamp bearing the Divine Name was taken out of circulation over fear that it may be treated with disrespect. Similar action was taken over a series that depicted passages from the Talmud. [27]
Starting in 1994-1995, Israel shifted away from providing postal services for territories that, under the Oslo Accords, were to come under the auspices of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The PNA established post offices throughout the PNA, developed its own unique postmarks [28] and issued stamps. The PNA's Ministry of Telecom & Information Technology issued a critical report on postal services in areas under Israeli control. [29]
The Israel Philatelic Federation lists 12 stamp clubs, [30] and 11 philatelic businesses in Israel. [31] The country has stamp fairs (using its own cancellation), annual souvenir sheets, postage exhibitions, philatelic journals, and catalogs (pictured). In 1998, the Israel Post established the Postal and Philatelic Museum in Tel Aviv. [3] [32] Tel Aviv was selected to host the 2008 World Stamp Championship under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie, the international organization for philately.
Collecting stamps of broadly Jewish interest, forming topical Judaica collections, is a hobby of philatelists everywhere. While the sources listed in the previous paragraph catalogue Israeli stamps, there is no central catalogue of topical Judaica stamps. There is, however, the Judaica Topical Association and Judaica Topical News.
Emory University in Atlanta (GA, USA) created an ongoing database for both Israeli and topical Judaica stamps rooted in, but not limited to, its own Sol Singer Collection of Philatelic Judaica. [33] The database, composed of downloadable “stampcharts” and articles of philatelic interest, [34] is available to the public and Emory University welcomes comments
Owing to sales to collectors, including those in the Jewish diaspora, philatelic items has been a considerable revenue stream for Israel's government [35] and the Israeli post office is a client of the Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation.
Philately is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps. For instance, the stamps being studied may be very rare or reside only in museums.
Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is an area of philately, which is the study of stamps. It has been one of the world's most popular hobbies since the late nineteenth century with the rapid growth of the postal service, as a stream of new stamps was produced by countries that sought to advertise their distinctiveness through their stamps.
Indian postal systems for efficient military and governmental communications had developed long before the arrival of Europeans. When the Portuguese, Dutch, French, Danish and British conquered the Marathas who had already defeated the Mughals, their postal systems existed alongside those of many somewhat independent states. The British East India Company gradually annexed the other powers on the sub-continent and brought into existence a British administrative system over most of modern-day India, with a need to establish and maintain both official and commercial mail systems.
This is a partial timeline of significant events in postal history, including dates and events relating to postage stamps.
The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) is the postal agency of the United Nations. It issues postage stamps and postal stationery, denominated in United States dollars for the office in New York, in Swiss francs for the office in Geneva and in euros for the office in Vienna. As such, UNPA is the only postal authority that issues stamps in three different currencies.
John Harry Robson Lowe was an English professional philatelist, stamp dealer and stamp auctioneer.
The postage stamps and postal history of Palestine emerges from its geographic location as a crossroads amidst the empires of the ancient Near East, the Levant and the Middle East. Postal services in the region were first established in the Bronze Age, during the rule of Sargon of Akkad, and successive empires have established and operated a number of different postal systems over the millennia.
The Palestinian National Authority began in 1994 to issue stamps and operate postal services as authorized by the Oslo Accords.
Otte Wallish (1906–1977) was a Czech emigre to Israel who established himself as a graphic designer and contributed to the symbolic self-representation of the Jewish state.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Estonia. The stamps of Estonia are issued by the postal administration Eesti Post which is the country's only provider of universal postal services.
The postal history of Turkey and its predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire, dates to the 18th century when foreign countries maintained courier services through their consular offices in the Empire. Although delayed in the development of its own postal service, in 1863 the Ottoman Empire became the second independent country in Asia to issue adhesive postage stamps, and in 1875, it became a founding member of the General Postal Union, soon to become the Universal Postal Union. The Ottoman Empire became the Republic of Turkey in 1923, and in the following years, its postal service became more modernized and efficient and its postage stamps expertly designed and manufactured.
August Dietz was a philatelist, editor and publisher, who specialized in the study of mail and postal history of the Confederate States of America.
Stanley J. Luft of Golden, Colorado, is a philatelist who is an expert on the postal history of France.
The Israel Postal Company, formerly called the Israel Postal Authority and currently doing business as Israel Post, is a government-owned corporation that provides postal services in Israel.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Jordan, formerly Transjordan.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Egypt.
Wolfgang Baldus is a German graphic designer, artist, and philatelic writer. He is known for authoring and publishing books on cinderella stamps in the series History and Background Stories of Unusual Stamps and for his works on the philatelic forgeries and propaganda parodies produced by both sides during the First and Second World Wars.
Wilfrid Thomas Froggatt Castle was a British Church of England clergyman, author, and philatelist who wrote on the history and philately of the former Ottoman Empire, and of Cyprus in particular.
Notes
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(help) and "Doar Ivri (Jerusalem 73 miniature sheets)". [IPF] Articles. Israel Philatelic Federation . Retrieved 2008-02-07.{{cite web}}
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(help), which states: "...evidence has been preserved of the circumstances surrounding the preparation and printing of Israel's first stamps in 1948 - the haste and secrecy connected with the preparation of the designs by the artist Otte Wallish; the color trials of the eight stamps produced on the Haaretz newspaper press in Tel Aviv; the collecting of a sufficient stock of paper obtained from all manner of unconventional sources, the setting-up of the printing press in the Kirya (government office center) and the conspiratorial beginnings of the printing of the stamps even before the termination of the British Mandate." Some 10 and 15 mil stamps were printed missing a line of the tab inscription.{{cite web}}
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(help)Sources