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David Ben-Gurion

Born

in Płońsk, Poland

October 16, 1886

Died

December 01, 1973

Website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ben-Gurion

Genre

Politics, Memoir, History

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David Ben-Gurion (About this sound pronunciation (help·info); Hebrew: דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן‎, born David Grün; (16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary founder and the first Prime Minister of Israel.
Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946. As head of the Jewish Agency, and later president of the Jewish Agency Executive, he became the de facto leader of the Jewish community in Palestine, and largely led its struggle for an independent Jewish state in Palestine. On 14 May 1948, he formally proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel, and was the first to sign the Israeli Declaration of Independence, w David Ben-Gurion (About this sound pronunciation (help·info); Hebrew: דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן‎, born David Grün; (16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary founder and the first Prime Minister of Israel.
Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946. As head of the Jewish Agency, and later president of the Jewish Agency Executive, he became the de facto leader of the Jewish community in Palestine, and largely led its struggle for an independent Jewish state in Palestine. On 14 May 1948, he formally proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel, and was the first to sign the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which he had helped to write. Ben-Gurion led Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and united the various Jewish militias into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Subsequently, he became known as "Israel's founding father".

Following the war, Ben-Gurion served as Israel's first Prime Minister. As Prime Minister, he helped build the state institutions, presiding over various national projects aimed at the development of the country. He also oversaw the absorption of vast numbers of Jews from all over the world. A centerpiece of his foreign policy was improving relationships with the West Germans. He worked very well with Konrad Adenauer's government in Bonn, and West Germany provided large sums (in the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany) in compensation for Nazi Germany's persecution of the Jews during the Holocaust.

In 1954, he resigned and served as Minister of Defense, before returning to office in 1955. Under his leadership, Israel responded aggressively to Arab guerrilla attacks, and in 1956, invaded Egypt along with British and French forces after Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal.

He stepped down from office in 1963, and retired from political life in 1970. He then moved to Sde Boker, a kibbutz in the Negev desert, where he lived until his death. Posthumously, Ben-Gurion was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Important People of the 20th century.

Yeshayahu Leibowitz considered Ben-Gurion "to have hated Judaism more than any other man he had met." On his religious views, Ben-Gurion was an atheist.

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David Ben-Gurion’s books

Average rating: 3.75 · 88 ratings · 11 reviews · 20 distinct works • Similar authors

	Memoirs by David Ben-Gurion, Thomas R. Bransten (Compiler) 3.65 avg rating — 20 ratings — published 1970	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	David Ben Gurion: In His Own Words by David Ben-Gurion, Amram Ducovny (Editor) 3.93 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 1969 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Jews In Their Land 4.07 avg rating — 14 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Israel: A Personal History by David Ben-Gurion, Nechemia Meyers (Translator), Uzy Nystar (Translator) 3.55 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 1971 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Talks with Arab Leaders 3.57 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 1973 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Israel Years of Challenge 3.43 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 1963	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ben-Gurion Looks at the Bible really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1972 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Letters to Paula. Translated from the Hebrew by Aubrey Hodes 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1971 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	يوميات الحرب 1947 - 1949 3.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Israel: Der Staatsgründer Erinnert Sich 2.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by David Ben-Gurion…

Quotes by David Ben-Gurion

“Anyone who does not believe in miracles is not a realist.”
― David Ben Gurion

tags: misattributed-audrey-hepburn

283 likes

“In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.”
― David Ben-Gurion

tags: israel, miracles

10 likes

“Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared.”
― David Ben-Gurion

tags: courage, fear

8 likes

See all David Ben-Gurion's quotes »

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