News
Students Annual contest
Passport and Emblem
Nine months did it take for the state emblem selection process (June 48 - February 49). One member of the flag and emblem committee, David Remez, the transport minister, said: "The absence of an emblem delays the printing of an Israeli passport and official certificates without which no action can be taken."
The urgent need for a passport bearing an emblem is reflected in a story that designer Francesca Baruch told: One Dark Evening in 1948 a stranger knocked on her door. He was a small man with a mustache. Without introducing himself first, the stranger showed her the new cover of the young Israeli passport. "I have to go abroad tomorrow, and I won't leave with a badly designed passport. Please re-design these four lines. The emblem of the Israeli state is already imprinted in its place ”[before it was officially released].
She objected. She needs to spend time on such a task, but sat down and designed the passport cover. She wondered how her job could be turned into gold imprint the next morning, but the foreigner - Foreign Minister Moshe Shertok (later, Sharett) - assured her that he himself would take care of it.
For a refugee state a passport had a deep emotional significance, to many it was a real life saver. In the first decades of the country, Israelis proudly presented the Israeli passport at border crossings around the world. All this changed with the establishment of the EU, with the passport of one of its member states allowing not only free passage but also material benefits. For the past two years, an intensive campaign in Israel to obtain a Portuguese passport has been underway as a key to consolidation.
Probably under the influence of the Corona epidemic, Meir Uziel, a columnist in Ma'ariv, wrote: Today when I spent time sorting out my drawers, I found a blue booklet with the state emblem on it. What is it? I wondered. It had the word passport on it. I opened it and saw my picture inside. I couldn't remember what I needed it for. There is no point in saving anything again and again because you are telling yourself: one day I will probably need it.
The ironic attitude of Uziel to the Israeli passport brought designer Ophir Begun to an extreme expression - a fish wrapped in a passport. The source was the practice in the days of austerity to sell fish wrapped in newspaper. This practice was the background to the derogatory phrase in the daily newspaper: it is only good for wrapping fish.
Yoram E. Shamir, April 2020