David Ben-Gurion
The author of a new book about Israel’s diplomatic history joins us to discuss the enduring lessons he’s learned from surveying 3,000 years of Jewish history.
What are Jews for?
Born within four years of each other, David Ben-Gurion and Abdullah bin Hussein emerged out of the same political womb to forge Israel and Jordan in battle. Both nations should be grateful.
As a new biography shows, David Ben-Gurion could be petty, harsh, and stubborn. He also decisively shaped almost every institution that would form the state of Israel.
Labor’s collapse was sped up by the failure of Oslo, but its roots run deeper.
And helped organize one of the war’s worst massacres.
Ever? Judea? Zion?
From Ben-Gurion vs. Weizmann to Rabin vs. Peres.
In 1948, he served as a stark counter-example to the view (which he mostly held) that history is driven by material factors and not by great leaders.
Ancient Jewish history, with which he was well acquainted, showed what could happen in the absence of a central military command. He made sure it wouldn’t happen again.
If the Jews could hang on through the tough early months, he thought, they would grow considerably stronger while their opponents might well become weaker. And so it proved to be.
The pre-state militia had actually prepared well for the outbreak of war in 1948. But its commanders generally hailed from rival political parties to Ben-Gurion’s.
On the eve of Israel’s statehood in 1948, with the massed forces of five Arab nations threatening invasion, David Ben-Gurion picked a fight with his own army. Why?
Throughout his life, he remained a friend of Israel.