Sixty years ago, Israel found oil in the Heletz area south of Ashkelon. It was an exciting discovery for the brand-new state, and one that came after years of searching, according to this newsreel’s narrator.
“Israel’s first gusher has produced oil from a depth of about 4,000 feet,” the narrator declares.
On screen, workers bustle about the oil derrick as others fill bottles with souvenir oil.
“Let’s have a couple of pints,” the narrator quips, as one worker raises a bottle of oil in each hand.
(The Associated Press and Movietone News recently released their vast video archives on YouTube, allowing the public to freely access a million minutes worth of historical news clips dating back to 1895 — including many iconic scenes from Israel’s history featured in this Times of Israel series.)
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