WATCH: Israel strikes black gold
It’s 1955, and Israel has just discovered its first oil field
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.)