Postal History of Israel

Doar Ivri 5m TRANSPARENT PAPER franks (plate block group #26.2) on mail: 16 JULY 1948 local TEL AVIV registered cover from HAKIRYA (TEL AVIV government complex) franked 25m at the DO-2 postage period official mail rate (no letter fee + 25pr registration) using tabbed 3pc 5m vertical strip on thin yellow paper + 5m 1st plate block pair (star to right, CD 16.5mm, on transparent paper - the only issu...

Doar Ivri 15 mils with tab settings 9 & 3a + stamp paper discovery: double vertical tab pairs of 15m stamps forming 60m postage affixed to 15 March 1949 postmarked express cover on imprinted business postal stationary, sent from TEL AVIV to HAIFA, tied by single strike of TEL AVIV-23 postmark; backstamped next day arrival; locally rerouted; cut open at top.Of significant note: the stamps are P...

Doar Ivri 15 mils with wrong tab (Bale #4b) tied to small sized cover postmarked 31 JAN 1949 locally in TEL AVIV & cancelled by detainees illustrated slogan; rare stamp type on mail....

Major Doar Ivri discovery - 20 mils on 'Thick White' paper: 28 Dec 1948 postmarked local TEL AVIV registered cover franked 40 mils at the DO-2 period postage rate (15m letter + 25m registry fee) using a right marginal horizontal pair of 20 mils Doar Ivri stamps with control number 29203 & edge of 'slug' control symbol - per Bale belonging to plate group Ba126.1 (plate block catalogues at $1500...

Doar Ivri major discovery - 20 mils 1st printing on 'medium white' paper: as air mail postage on 23 March 1949 postmarked real photograph postcard (Ben Yehuda street in TEL AVIV) sent to FLORENCE Italy & tied by TEL AVIV-49 postmark; backstamped by Italian numbered sorting mark. Although the message only bears 3 words, there was no discounted airmail printed matter postcard rate at this time, ...

Major Doar Ivri discovery - 20 mils on DARK CREAM paper: 2x 20m Doar Ivri singles on undocumented dark cream paper of "medium white" type as 40 mils franking for 20m air mail postage affixed to 9 June 1949 postmarked real photograph postcard (YMCA building in Jerusalem) airmail cover sent from JERUSALEM to BUCHAREST Romania, tied by full strike of JERUSALEM-16 postmark; backstamped 14 June arrival...

Rare 20 mils Doar Ivri booklet stamp comprising part of 65m postage on 30 Sept 1949 postmarked air mail cover sent from TEL AVIV to NEW YORK; additional franks are complete series of 1949 IDF Insignia stamps (Ba #18-20) on their 11th day of use, all tied by 3x strikes of TEL AVIV-40 postmark. Stamp booklets of the Doar Ivri issue entered use on 9 Sept., here a stamp from one of the 3 very rare sta...

1951 New Years print error on unusual stationary: print error variety of 40pr single (Ba #57), where apostrophe in Hebrew date is missing on the right frank of a vertical pair, tied to a 24-10-1951 registered cover on a reused envelope, from KFAR SAVA to JERUSALEM, franked 40pr per period DO-2 registered letter rate; slit open at top. Note on reverse inverted watermarked text visible on the "Mataf...

Israeli stamp varieties on mail: vertical tabbed pair + single 1nis stamps of the 1986-1990 Archeology definitive issue with 1 phosphor line (Ba #921-I), as part of 3.85nis franking tied to 27 July 1994 postmarked commercial registered cover on Tnuva Dairy imprinted postal stationary (return addressed TEL YOSEF), sent by GILBOA Mobile Post to MIGDAL HA'EMEK; backstamped next day arrival; slit open...

Rare flown pre-State army mail: stampless plain light-green registered mail envelope addressed to "Haganah Headquarters - Negev", sent from the Haganah's headquarters in TEL AVIV & tied by 1x strike of the illustrated cachet on front & 1x on back + "By Air" ('Derech Avir') framed carmine handstamp instructional endorsement; tied on back by 14 April 1948 dated instructional handstamps for the dispa...

1948 War of Independence mail in siege era JERUSALEM: 7 May 1948 postmarked stampless cover sent from the Jerusalem City Commander (David Shaltiel) to the Commander of the Hagana field companies (Shlomo Shamir), bearing the circular cacher of the City Commander on the front and dated posting/registry handstamp on the back. The cover does not bear the Jerusalem "communication corps" Misrad Kesher M...

1948 Palmach mail to Jerusalem pre-APO postmark usage: late May/early June era stampless undated cover sent from soldier Natan Levin at army unit post office KABA 219/3 (Yiftach brigade), self identified in the return address as belonging to "Company A" (Pluga Alef) - of the 1st battalion of the Yiftach brigade of the Palmach, and addressed to the British Institute in JERUSALEM; the front is tied ...

Important Army Mail proving cover - one of the earliest known covers with a KABA handstamp: 3 June 1948 postmarked civilian cover, sent from TEL AVIV and addressed to the Schweitzer Hospital in TIBERIAS, franked 10 mils for the domestic letter postage rate (10x11 perforated stamp) & tied by a single strike of the head post office postmark; the hospital functioned as an army hospital, and the cover...

1948 War of Independence era priviliged civilian mail to JERUSALEM through the Army postal service: stampless & undated cover addressed to JERUSALEM and dispatched from army unit post office KABA 140 (Headquarters of the Army post service at the KIRYA government complex in TEL AVIV) & return addressed to a civilian in TEL AVIV - the cover is not endorsed "on active service" (OAS); tied on front by...

Key 1948 Army mail proving cover: undated stampless cover with original pen written letter inside, Hebrew dated Alef Sivan 5708 (8 June 1948), signed "Shmuel" [Rubkhash] with his unit number "211/25" & bearing on its backside the endorsement "on active service" together with the address Moshe Levi Family near the Avihayil Bakery at the Zichron Moshe neighborhood [next to Mea Shearim] in "JERUSALEM...

Cracking the riddle of the dateless APO 3 postmark - a supporting 'proving cover': a plain stampless cover, without return address or army postal unit triangular KABA handstamp, addressed to "Family [of] Refael Levi, 52 Sokolov Street, Tel Aviv" & tied at top right by a single strike of a black dateless APO 3 postmark.As per extensive research conducted by this cataloguer on the subject of 1948 ma...

Unusual Palmach "army mail" handled by Army signals corps mail: 29 July 1948 postmarked civilian cover sent from TEL AVIV to relative in "Company 3 of Battalion 3" at "P.O.Box 724", franked 10 mils per inland letter postage rate & tied by strike of the head post office; the cover was transferred from the civilian postal service to the army postal service & backstamped same day regional Army Post O...

War of Independence delayed army mail + postmark discoveries: stampless 29 July 1948 postmarked On Active Service OAS family correspondence cover sent from sergeant at army unit post office KABA 188 at "training base" to addressee at KFAR HAROEH via HADERA, tied by the KABA 188 triangular handstamp & regional Army Post Office APO 7 postmark (AFFULA) - with date-slug missing, and supplemented by En...

1948 internal army mail processed by the Army Postal Service: stampless & undated "official mail" endorsed cover tied by the emblem of the 'Palmach' military force on reverse with manuscript signature-endorsement "Jerusalem", addressed on front to Eli Ron at the "Communications Department" at army postal unit (KABA) 222 (5th Battalion of the Harel brigade); front-stamped 2(?) Oct 1948 transit by r...

Rare 1949 internal-army "official mail" handled by the Army postal service: stampless "official mail" endorsed cover, addressed to a member of the Secretariate of the Prime Minister's Office; without a return address but tied on front by triangular army postal unit KABA 403 handstamp (of "TA'AS" - the armaments production department) - the apparent sending office & tied by 7 June 1949 army post of...

1949 internal army mail handled by the Army Postal Service: stampless miniature envelope on brown army-type postal stationary handstamp-endorsed "Official Mail" on lower-front, addressed to a civilian (Joseph Oplatka) at post office box address in JERUSALEM with an additional unit notation below referencing army postal unit 241 and "AKA" (the manpower directorate of the Army - the addressee may ha...

SHOWPIECE - True 1st Day ISRAEL 15 MAY 1948 cover + with *INTERIM* postmark: local HAIFA [registered] cover from the AHUZAT SAMUEL town agency to addressee Lilly Meissner at nearby 9 Vitkin street in AHUZA, franked 40 mils for the period registered letter postage rate with extra weight (10m letter + 15m registry + 2x 6m additional weight, with 3m overpaid) using top-left corner block of 4x blue in...

Exact 2m Late Fee on 1st Day Israel double-rate mail: 16 May 1948 postmarked printed matter cover sent locally in TEL AVIV, franked 8 mils using 3m (10x11 perf) & 5m single Doar Ivri stamps for double weight printed matter postage (2x 3m = 6m) + 2m LATE FEE for the late submission of mail, tied by 2x strikes of the head post office postmark - here a very rare instance of the fee being paid exa...

1st day Israel mixed franking: 16 May 1948 postmarked printed matter cover, sent from HAIFA to TEL AVIV & franked 10 mils for either double or triple weight 3m postage, using new 5m Doar Ivri stamp & 5m interim Weizmann stamp with Haifa overprint, tied by single strike of HAIFA-4 trilingual postmark; unsealed per printed matter regulations. Interim stamps were valid for postage until 22 May, inclu...