The Birth of a Nation: Israel in Pictures
1 of 9 
David Rubinger was there at some of the most significant moments of Israel's history. His photographs are a testimony of its tumultuous past, which remains very much a part of the country's present. He shared these works of his in an exclusive interview with theasiamag.com.
Rubinger muses at this photo taken during the 1948 war: "It is typical of the Israelis that none of the soldiers are standing at attention."
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2 of 9 A125701
A holocaust survivor bares the tattoo "field prostitute" on her chest.
Photographer: David Rubinger
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3 of 9 Going home
A soldier cradles a baby, numbered among the tens of thousands of Jews, heading to Israel in January 1949, after being detained by the British in transit in Cyprus.
Photographer: David Rubinger
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4 of 9 Sadat and Begin
Connections were what got David this exclusive photo of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The two leaders shared this intimate moment as well as the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978, following secret talks that led to Israel's first peace treaty with her neighbours. That move led Egypt to be expelled from the Arab League and eventually cost Sadat his life. He was assassinated by Islamic extremists on the order of a fatwa.
Photographer: David Rubinger
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5 of 9 Pope John Paul II
The late Pope John Paul II visited Jerusalem's Wailing Wall in 2000, in the 22nd year of his papacy. He followed tradition and placed a prayer in the wall's crevice, apologising for Jews suffering at the hands of the Christians for the past 2,000 years, and asked for forgiveness.
Photographer: David Rubinger
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6 of 9 June 10, 1967
Israeli paratroopers reach the Western Wall.
Photographer: David Rubinger
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7 of 9 October 1973, Yom Kippur War
An Israeli soldier tends to a wounded comrade. Today, she is a proud mother whose eldest son himself is serving in the Army.
Photographer: David Rubinger
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8 of 9 David Ben-Gurion
When asked why he was upside down, Israel's most respected founder David Ben-Gurion replied, "I have to stand on my head, so the State of Israel can stand on its feet."
Photographer: David Rubinger
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9 of 9 Arab girl
David Rubinger's photographs are not solely of his own people, but of the Arabs as well with whom Israel's past, present and future are closely tied. This is a shot of an Arab girl scathed by Israeli attacks.
Photographer: David Rubinger
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