Jewish Agency

The Jewish Agency
State Medal, 5739-1979

The founding convention of the "Jewish Agency for Palestine" took place in Zurich in 1929. Half of those who attended the convention were representatives of the World Zionist Organization, elected by the Zionist Congress, and the other half were representatives of organizations and important personalities not identified with Zionism. The Jewish Agency came to fulfill an important role in education, mobilizing and activating the Jewish people to prepare Palestine for a renewal of national independence, as well as for large migration. Upon the establishment of the State, which opened its gates wide to mass immigration, the Zionist executive concluded that the task of immigration and absorption cannot be borne by the Israeli government alone but was an obligation which the entire Jewish people, wherever they are, must assume. The Jewish Agency undertook to organize immigration, assist in absorption in Israel, be concerned with youth immigration and participate in the budget for education and health.

Obverse: A fractional reproduction of the Star of David, the immigrants disembarking from a ship, completing the Star of David. A citation from Zachariah 8:8 'And I will bring them in and they will be my people". The English translation appears on the rim

Reverse: To the left, the emblem of the Jewish Agency. Around the rim, the inscription in Hebrew and English "Jewish Agency for Israel Jubilee 5689-5739, 1929-1979".

Edge: The State emblem and the words "State of Israel" in Hebrew and English.

Serialization: The medals are numbered.

Designer: Ya'akov Anidi.

Engraving: Amnograph.

Mint: Bronze - numbers 1 -2997, Amnograph - numbers 2998 and on, Hecht.