Ben-Gurion: Father of Modern IsraelDavid Ben-Gurion cast a great shadow during his lifetime, and his legacy continues to be sharply debated to this day. There have been many books written about the life and accomplishments of the Zionist icon and founder of modern Israel, but this new biography by eminent Israeli historian Anita Shapira strives to get to the core of the complex man who would become the face of the new Jewish nation. Shapira tells the Ben-Gurion story anew, focusing especially on the period after 1948, during the first years of statehood. As a result of her extensive research and singular access to Ben-Gurion’s personal archives, the author provides fascinating and original insights into his personal qualities and those that defined his political leadership. As Shapira writes, “Ben-Gurion liked to argue that history is made by the masses, not individuals. But just as Lenin brought the Bolshevik Revolution into the world and Churchill delivered a fighting Britain, so with Ben-Gurion and the Jewish state. He knew how to create and exploit the circumstances that made its birth possible.” Shapira’s portrait reveals the flesh-and-blood man who more than anyone else realized the Israeli state. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 17 | |
3 Exile and Return | 43 |
4 Labor Leader | 62 |
5 From Labor Leader to National Leader | 82 |
6 Days of Hope Days of Despair | 102 |
7 On the Verge of Statehood | 135 |
8 We Hereby Declare | 154 |
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accept activist agreement Akhdut Ha’avoda American Arab army Avigdor Aviv became Ben-Zvi Berl Katznelson Brit Shalom Britain British colleagues command Committee comrades country’s crisis Dayan decision declared defense demanded despite elections establishment Etzel Europe father fighting force Germany Golda Golda Meir Gurion Haganah Hapoel Hatzair Hashomer Hashomer Hatzair Hebrew Histadrut Holocaust Ibid IDFA Israel Israeli Jabotinsky Jerusalem Jewish Agency Jewish workers Jewry Jews Knesset labor movement Latrun Lavon leader leadership letter London Mapai meeting ment military Moshe Nazis Ottoman Palestine Palmach party people’s Plonsk Poalei Zion political president prime minister proposed Rabbi resign revolution Russia Sdeh Boker Second Aliya Sejera settlement Sharett Shertok Shlomo Zemach socialist state’s struggle talks Tel Aviv tion Turkish United wanted Weizmann White Paper wrote Yiddish Yishuv Yitzhak young Zionist Congress Zionist Executive Zionist movement Zionist Organization