I assume you are referring to the two witnesses of Revelation 11.  We need to remember that Revelation is what is known as apocalyptic literature.  In such literature, the figures described are symbolic.  In apocalyptic literature, we should assume that what is described is symbolic and not literal unless we have clear reasons to take them literally.  For example, the 144,000 Jewish male virgins in Revelation 7:4-8 are symbolic, as we learn in Revelation 7:9.  They are symbolic of “a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and language.”  There are not literally 144,000 Jewish virgins to be saved.  I could cite dozens of examples of objects in Revelation which are intended to be taken as symbols—not literally. The horses are symbolic, the trumpets are symbolic, the Beast, Babylon, the Great Serpent, Gog and Magog, the locusts and so much more are symbolic of forces at play in the time of Rome.

The same applies to the two witnesses in Revelation 11.  They are symbolic of the disciples of Jesus who stand up against the corrupting power of Rome and continue to preach the gospel.  We are told (Rev 11:7) that when they had finished giving their testimony they were attacked by the beast (who, not surprisingly, is a symbol, and not literal. The beast is Rome and its political power), and killed.  Later, they are raised from the dead.  This is a symbol of the fact that the Church testified to the gospel, that Rome would attack and attempt to destroy the Church, but that the Church would bounce back and continue to testify about Christ.  All of this, of course happened.

In point of fact, John was told that his vision/revelation concerned things that would “soon take place.” (Rev 1:1)  John was also told of the time of fulfillment of the visions, that “the time is near.”  These statements that the visions of Revelation concerned things happened at a time close to when the vision was received by John in about 96 AD–in the time of the Roman attacks on the Church.  This statement that the things would happen shortly is found again in Revelation 22:6.  The visions involve things which “must soon take place.”  This means that all, or at least most of the visions in Revelation concerns things which have already happened many centuries ago!  I go into this rather clear teaching in Revelation in my notes, power point and audio classes on Revelation at the web site.  For example:  https://evidenceforchristianity.org/class-on-revelation-at-uc-merced-by-dr-john-oakes/

Therefore, I can say with great confidence that the two witnesses are a symbol, that they are not literal, and that certainly one of them was not born around the time Israel became a nation in 1948.  There is no biblical support for this idea at all.  I suggest you not get caught up in interpreting scenes in Revelation in terms of historical events today.  Christians have been doing this for centuries, and they always turn out to be incorrect—even bringing shame on Christianity.  We should learn the mistakes of the past and should stop trying to shoehorn current history into the visions in Revelation.  Jesus told us very clearly “But about the day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the Father.  He then told multiple parables, such as the Parable of the ten virgins to tell us that we should not try to guess the day or the hour of his coming, but that we should always be ready (Matthew 24:36-37).  He told us: “Therefore keep watch.” (Matthew 24:42).  I suggest you take the advice of Matthew and live a life always ready for the return of Christ, not trying to guess the day or the hour, as Jesus admonished us to do.  No, this definitely is not an “overlooked possibility.”

John Oakes