Israel was first born in Peniel when Jacob out-wrestled the mystery man:
Genesis 32
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
In 1948, the place Israel was born was named Palestine:
PALESTINE
(PENIEL)
The leftover letters spell SAT (Shabbos). The War of Independence began the following morning on SATurday, May 15th, when "nascent" Israel was forced to wrestle with multiple enemies. Apparently the attackers had flunked out of history class and had no idea with whom they were dealing.
"Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed."
Deuteronomy 25:19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance (memory) of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.