David Ben-Gurion דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן
1st Prime Minister of Israel
In office 2 November 1955 – 21 June 1963
Preceded by	Moshe Sharett
Succeeded by	Levi Eshkol
In office 14 May 1948 – 7 December 1953
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Moshe Sharett
Born	October 16, 1886 (1886-10-16) Płońsk, Poland (Russian Empire)
Died	December 1, 1973 (aged 87) Israel
Political party	Mapai, Rafi, National List

David Ben-Gurion (help·info) (Hebrew: דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן‎, born David Grün 16 October 1886 - 1 December 1973) was the first Prime Minister of Israel. The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and is the most powerful political officer in Israel (the President of Israel being a titular figurehead Events 1570 - A Tidal wave in the North Sea devastates the coast from Holland to Jutland, killing more than 1000 Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) Events 524 - Godomar, King of the Burgundians defeats the Franks at the Battle of Vézeronce. Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Moshe Sharett (משה שרת born Moshe Shertok (Hebrew משה שרתוק on 15 October 1894, died 7 July 1965) was the second (לֵוִי אֶשְׁכּוֹל born Levi Školnik (לֵוִי שׁקוֹלנִיק on 25 October 1895, died 26 February 1969) Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Moshe Sharett (משה שרת born Moshe Shertok (Hebrew משה שרתוק on 15 October 1894, died 7 July 1965) was the second Events 456 - Magister militum Ricimer defeats the Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western Year 1886 ( MDCCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Płońsk (Plonsk is a town in north-central Poland with 22258 inhabitants (2006 Congress Poland Kongresówka, officially and formally Kingdom of Poland (Królestwo Polskie {{IPA-pl|'|p|o|l|s|kʲ|e}} Царство Польское Tsarstvo Polskoye The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Events 800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. for the town in Mozambique see Mapai Mozambique Mapai (מפא"י an acronym for Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael (מפלגת Rafi (רפ"י an acronym for Reshimat Poalei Yisrael (רשימת פועלי ישראל lit The National List (רשימה ממלכתית Reshima Mamlakhtit) sometimes translated as the State List, was a political party in Israel. Events 456 - Magister militum Ricimer defeats the Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western Year 1886 ( MDCCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and is the most powerful political officer in Israel (the President of Israel being a titular figurehead Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, culminated in his instrumental role in the founding of the state of Israel. History of Zionism|Timeline of Zionism|World Zionist Organization|Zionist political violence Zionism is an international political movement that originally supported the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. After leading Israel to victory in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Ben-Gurion helped build the state institutions and oversaw the absorption of vast numbers of Jews from all over the world. Aliyah ( refers to Jewish Immigration to the Land of Israel (and since its establishment in 1948 the State of Israel) Upon retiring from political life in 1970, he moved to Sde Boker, where he lived until his death. Sde Boker (שְׂדֵה בּוֹקֵר lit Cowboy's Field) is a Kibbutz in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Posthumously, Ben-Gurion was named one of Time Magazine 's 100 Most Important People of the Century. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and

Contents 1 Early life 2 Zionist leadership 3 Ben-Gurion and the Negev 4 Ben-Gurion and the Holocaust 5 1948 War and the Palestinian exodus 6 Prime Ministership 7 Commemoration 8 Footnotes 9 References 10 External links

Early life

Ben-Gurion was born in Płońsk, Congress Poland which was then part of the Russian Empire. Płońsk (Plonsk is a town in north-central Poland with 22258 inhabitants (2006 Congress Poland Kongresówka, officially and formally Kingdom of Poland (Królestwo Polskie {{IPA-pl|'|p|o|l|s|kʲ|e}} Царство Польское Tsarstvo Polskoye The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya His father, Avigdor Grün was a lawyer and a leader in the Hovevei Zion movement. A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law as an attorney, Counsel or Solicitor; a person Hovevei Zion is also a popular Israeli musical group Hovevei Zion (חובבי ציון also known as Hibbat Zion (חיבת ציון His mother, Scheindel, passed away when he was 11 years old.

Ben-Gurion grew up to be an ardent Zionist. History of Zionism|Timeline of Zionism|World Zionist Organization|Zionist political violence Zionism is an international political movement that originally supported the As a student at the University of Warsaw, he joined the Marxist Paole Zion movement in 1904. University of Warsaw (Uniwersytet Warszawski is the largest University in Poland, ranked by the Times Higher Education Supplement as the second best Polish Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Poale Zion (also spelled Poalei Tziyon or Poaley Syjon, meaning "Workers of Zion" was a Movement of Marxist Zionist Jewish He was arrested twice during the Russian Revolution of 1905. See also Russian Revolution (1917 The 1905 Russian Revolution also known as the Failed Russian Revolution of 1905 was an empire-wide struggle of He immigrated to Palestine in 1906, shocked by the pogroms and horrific anti-Semitism of life in Eastern Europe, and became a major leader of Paole Zion with Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. A pogrom is a form of Riot directed against a particular group whether ethnic religious or other and characterized by destruction of their Homes Businesses Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (יצחק בן צבי ( November 24, 1884 &ndash April 23, 1963) was a historian Labor Zionist leader and the second

In Palestine, he first worked in agriculture, picking oranges. In 1902 he volunteered with HaShomer, a force of volunteers who helped guard isolated Jewish agricultural communities. Hashomer (השומר ("The Watchman" was a Jewish defense organization in Palestine founded out of Bar-Giora in April 1909 In 1912 he moved to Turkey to study law at Istanbul University together with Ben-Zvi and adopted the Hebrew name Ben-Gurion, after Yosef ben Gurion (Joseph son of Gorion), a general of the Jews during the First Jewish-Roman War. Istanbul University (İstanbul Üniversitesi is Turkey 's main and oldest prestige University. He also worked as a journalist. In 1915, Ben-Gurion and Ben-Zvi were expelled from Palestine, then under Ottoman rule, for their political activities.

Settling in America (New York City) in 1915, he met Russian-born Paula Munweis. The City of New York Paula (Munweis or Monbesz Ben-Gurion (פולה בן גוריון 1892 &ndash 1968 was the Russian -born wife of David Ben-Gurion They were married in 1917, and had three children. He joined the British Army in 1918 as part of the 38th Battalion of the Jewish Legion (following the Balfour Declaration in November 1917). The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. This article is about the British Army battalions known as the Jewish Legion or Zion Mule Corps, which fought in World War I against the Balfour Declaration of 1917 (dated November 2 1917) was a Classified formal statement of Policy by the British government stating He and his family returned to Palestine after World War I following its capture by the British from the Ottoman Empire. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish

Zionist leadership

After the death of theorist Ber Borochov, the left-wing and right-wing of Paole Zion split in 1919 with Ben-Gurion and his friend Berl Katznelson leading the right faction of the Labor Zionist movement. Dov Ber Borochov (1881-1917 was a Marxist Zionist and one of the founders of the Labor Zionist movement as well as a pioneer in the study of Yiddish Berl Katznelson (ברל כצנלסון born 25 January 1887, died 12 August 1944) was one the intellectual founders of Labor Zionism Labor Zionism ( Labour Zionism, ציונות סוציאליסטית tsionut sotsialistit) can be described as the major stream of the Left wing of the In 1920 he assisted in the formation and subsequently became general secretary of the Histadrut, the Zionist Labor Federation in Palestine. Template talkInfobox Union for usage -->The Histadrut ("Federation" labour or HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel In 1930, Paole Zion Right and Labour Unity joined forces to create Mapai, the right-wing Zionist labor party, under Ben-Gurion's leadership. for the town in Mozambique see Mapai Mozambique Mapai (מפא"י an acronym for Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael (מפלגת The left-wing of Labour Zionism was represented by Mapam. Mapam (מפ"ם an acronym for Mifleget HaPoalim HaMeuhedet (מפלגת הפועלים המאוחדת lit Labor Zionism became the dominant tendency in the World Zionist Organization and in 1935 Ben Gurion became chairman of the executive committee of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, a role he kept until the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The World Zionist Organization ( Hebrew: ההסתדרות הציונית העולמית or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization ( Hebrew The Jewish Agency for Israel (Hebrew הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) also known as the Sochnut or JAFI

According to Zeev Sternhell^[1] Ben-Gurion's 'intentions to which he adhered throughout the rest of his life' were well described by a declaration he made in December 1922:

[. Zeev Sternhell (born 1935 is an Israeli historian and one of the world's leading experts on Fascism. . . ] Our central problem is immigration . . . and not adapting our lives to this or that doctrine. [. . . ] We are conquerors of the land facing an iron wall, and we have to break through it. [. . . ] How can we run our Zionist movement in such a way that [. . . we] will be able to carry out the conquest of the land by the Jewish worker, and which will find the resources to organise the massive immigration and settlement of workers through their own capabilities? The creation of a new Zionist movement, a Zionist movement of workers, is the first prerequisite for the fulfillment of Zionism. [. . . ] Without [such] a new Zionist movement that is entirely at our disposal, there is no future or hope for our activities

According to Sternhell 'This concise, concentrated, programmatic and important speech, contained not a single word about equality, justice, universal values, or the creation of an alternative society. Something is of universal value if it has the same value or worth for all or almost all people Only one objective was mentioned and all the energy, strength and capabilities of the young movement were directed toward achieving it. ' Ben-Gurion was committed almost exclusively to building a Jewish state.

During the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, Ben-Gurion instigated a policy of restraint ("Havlagah") in which the Haganah and other Jewish groups did not retaliate for Arab attacks against Jewish civillians, concentrating only on self-defence. The 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine was an uprising during the British mandate by Arabs in Palestine which lasted from 1936 to 1939 Ha'Havlagah (ההבלגה "The Restraint" was a strategic policy used by the Haganah members with regard to actions taken against Arab groups who were attacking Haganah ( Hebrew: "The Defense" ההגנה was a Jewish Paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine In 1937, the Peel Commission recommended partitioning Palestine into Jewish and Arab areas and Ben-Gurion supported this policy. This led to conflict with Jabotinsky who opposed partition and as a result Jabotinsky's supporters split with the Haganah and abandoned Havlagah. Ze'ev Jabotinsky MBE (זאב ז'בוטינסקי Зеэв Жаботинский born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky on 18 October 1880

Ben-Gurion had a realistic view of the strong attachment of Arab Palestinians to the Palestinian soil. In 1938 he said: 'In our political argument abroad we minimize Arab opposition to us. But let us not ignore the truth among ourselves. [. . . ] A people which fights against the usurpation of its land will not tire so easily. '^[2] According to Flapan, Ben-Gurion's assessment of Arab feelings led him to emphasize the need to build up Jewish military strength: 'I believe in our power, in our power which will grow, and if it will grow agreement will come. . . '. ^[3]

The British 1939 White paper stipulated that Jewish immigration to Palestine was to be limited to 15,000 a year for the first five years, and would subsequently be contingent on Arab consent. The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over After this Ben-Gurion changed his policy towards the British, stating: "Peace in Palestine is not the best situation for thwarting the policy of the White Paper". ^[4] Ben-Gurion believed a peaceful solution with the Arabs had no chance and soon began preparing the Yishuv for war. According the Teveth 'through his campaign to mobilize the Yishuv in support of the British war effort, he strove to build the nucleus of a "Hebrew army", and his success in this endeavor later brought victory to Zionism in the struggle to establish a Jewish state. '^[5]

During the Second World War, Ben-Gurion encouraged Palestine's Jews to volunteer for the British Army. He famously told Jews to "support the British as if there is no White Paper and oppose the White Paper as if there is no war". ^[6] At the same time he helped the illegal immigration of thousands of European Jewish refugees to Palestine during a period when the British placed heavy restrictions on Jewish immigration.

In 1946 Ben-Gurion agreed that the Haganah could cooperate with Menachem Begin's Irgun in fighting the British. Haganah ( Hebrew: "The Defense" ההגנה was a Jewish Paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine (מְנַחֵם בְּגִין Mieczysław Biegun Менахем Вольфович Бегин 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992 was the sixth prime minister of the State of Israel Irgun (ארגון shorthand for HaIrgun HaTzva'i HaLe'umi BeEretz Yisra'el, he הארגון הצבאי הלאומי בארץ ישראל "National Military Organization Ben-Gurion initially agreed to Begin's plan to carry out the 1946 King David Hotel bombing, with the intent of embarrassing (rather than killing) the British military stationed there. The King David Hotel bombing was a deadly bomb strike by the Irgun, a Militant Zionist group on the headquarters of the British Mandatory However, when the risks of mass killing became apparent, Ben-Gurion told Begin to call the operation off; Begin refused. ^[7]

Illegal Jewish migration led to pressure on the British to either allow Jewish migration (as required by the League of Nations Mandate) or quit - they did the latter in 1948 on the heels of a United Nations resolution partitioning the territory between the Jews and Arabs. A League of Nations mandate refers to a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security

In September 1947 Ben Gurion reached a status quo agreement with the Orthodox Agudath Israel party. Events in September It is the start of the academic year in many countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. World Agudath Israel (The World Jewish Union usually known as the Aguda, was established in the early twentieth century as the political arm of Ashkenazi Torah Judaism He sent a letter to Agudath Israel promising that the Shabbat would be Israel's official day of rest, there would be no civil marriages, and the Orthodox sector would be granted autonomy in the sphere of religious education. Shabbat or Shabbos ( Hebrew: שַׁבָּת, shabbāt, shabbes, "rest/inactivity" is the Weekly Sabbath Civil marriage or secular marriage is a Marriage which is performed by a government official and not a religious organization

Ben Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. In the Israeli declaration of independence, he stressed that the new nation would "uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or gender. " During the first weeks of Israel's independence, he ordered all militias to be replaced by one national army, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The Israel Defense Forces ( IDF) (צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, lit To that end, Ben-Gurion gave the order to fire on the Altalena, a ship carrying arms purchased by the Irgun (also called Etzel). The Altalena Affair was a violent confrontation that took place in June 1948 between the newly-formed Israel Defense Forces and the Irgun, a paramilitary Jewish group Irgun (ארגון shorthand for HaIrgun HaTzva'i HaLe'umi BeEretz Yisra'el, he הארגון הצבאי הלאומי בארץ ישראל "National Military Organization The destination of those arms is unclear. That command remains controversial to this day.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War Ben-Gurion oversaw the nascent state's military operations.

Just one day after that day, May 15, 1948, Ben Gurion orderd to sink the Altalena ship and the killings of about 940 Irgun fighters. The Altalena Affair was a violent confrontation that took place in June 1948 between the newly-formed Israel Defense Forces and the Irgun, a paramilitary Jewish group Irgun (ארגון shorthand for HaIrgun HaTzva'i HaLe'umi BeEretz Yisra'el, he הארגון הצבאי הלאומי בארץ ישראל "National Military Organization ^[8]

Acording to the Wikipedia article The Altalena Affair, 37 men died in total from all sides, not 940. Apparently the Irgun fighters or many of them had disembarked before the ship was shelled. 940 would have been a total massacre--940 was about the number of fighters who left France on the ship.

Ben-Gurion and the Negev

David Ben-Gurion believed that the sparsely populated and barren Negev desert offered a great opportunity for the Jews to settle in Palestine with minimal obstruction of the Arab population. He set a personal example by choosing to settle in a Kibbutz (Sde Boker) at the centre of the Negev and established the National Water Carrier to bring water to the area. Sde Boker (שְׂדֵה בּוֹקֵר lit Cowboy's Field) is a Kibbutz in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Origins The National Water Carrier of Israel (המוביל הארצי HaMovil HaArtzi) is the largest Water project in Israel. He saw the struggle to make the desert bloom as an area where the Jewish people could make a major contribution to humanity as a whole. ^[9]

Ben-Gurion and the Holocaust

According to Zeev Sternhell, in his book "The Founding Myths of Israel": When it became clear that the Nazi concentration camps were more than just concentration camps, Ben-Gurion refused to change the Yishuv's priorities and tried to persuade the Yishuv that it should concern itself only with its own affairs. Some people suggested that the Jewish Agency should direct all its money and effort to rescue operations. Ben-Gurion replied that "the Jewish Agency can use this money only for the purposes for which it has been collected", and insisted that the Jewish Agency "is a general organisation of the Jewish people only where the reconstruction of Eretz Israel is concerned". ^[10] Ben-Gurion lobbied for the opening of Eretz Israel to rescued Jewish children. ^[11]

1948 War and the Palestinian exodus

David Ben-Gurion played a major role in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the Palestinian exodus. The 1948 Palestinian exodus (الهجرة الفلسطينية al-Hijra al-Filasteeniya) referred to by Palestinians as al Naqba (النكبة The New Historians consider that he personally ordered expulsions but they don't agree whether this was part of a major plan or whether these were decisions taken in function of circumstances. The New Historians are a loosely-defined group of Israeli historians who have published histories of expulsions of Palestinians by Israel in 1948 expropriations of Palestinian property

According to Simha Flapan 'the Jewish army [. . . ] under the leadership of Ben-Gurion, planned and executed the expulsion in the wake of the UN Partition Resolution. '^[12]

In a study published in 1988 and revisited in 2003,^[13] Benny Morris studied the events that lead to the Palestinian exodus. Among the different causes, he suggests that Ben Gurion could have played a major role in ordering expulsions starting in July 1948. In an interview with Ha'aretz in 2003, he affirmed that Ben Gurion had probably ordered the expulsion of Palestinians from Lydda and from villages attacked during Operation Hiram in October 1948. Operation Danny (or Operation Dani, Mivtza Dani in Hebrew) was an Israeli operation carried out between the first and second truce of the Operation Hiram, possibly also known as the Battle of Sa'sa', was a military operation conducted by the Israel Defence Force (IDF during the 1948 ^[14]

According to Shabtai Teveth Ben-Gurion envisaged a unitary Jewish state, even at the cost of expelling Arabs. He concludes that it had always been Ben-Gurion's deepest conviction that the Arabs would only come to terms with Zionism when Jewish strength compelled respect. ^[15] According to Morris Shabtai Teveth and Anita Shapira 'argued that the Zionist leadership - including Ben-Gurion - had never supported the idea of transfer and had never taken the idea seriously, and that, therefore, there was no connection between the occasional propagation of the idea in the 1930s and 1940s and what happened to the Palestinians in 1947-1949'. ^[16].

Ilan Pappé goes further and says the exodus was planned in early 1948 by a group he calls the ‘Consultancy’ and led by Ben-Gurion. Ilan Pappé ( אילן פפה, born 1954) is a professor of history at the University of Exeter. ^[17]

Prime Ministership

Ben-Gurion led Israel during its War of Independence. He became Prime Minister on May 14, 1948 and would remain in that post until 1963, except for a period of nearly two years between 1954 and 1955. The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and is the most powerful political officer in Israel (the President of Israel being a titular figurehead Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. As Premier, he oversaw the establishment of the state's institutions. He presided over various national projects aimed at the rapid development of the country and its population: Operation Magic Carpet, the airlift of Jews from Arab countries, the construction of the National Water Carrier, rural development projects and the establishment of new towns and cities. Operation Magic Carpet is a widely-known nickname for Operation On Wings of Eagles, an operation between June 1949 and September 1950 that brought Origins The National Water Carrier of Israel (המוביל הארצי HaMovil HaArtzi) is the largest Water project in Israel. In particular, he called for pioneering settlement in outlying areas, especially in the Negev. The Negev (נֶגֶב Tiberian vocalization: Néḡeḇ) is the Desert region of southern Israel.

In 1953 Ben-Gurion announced his intention to withdraw from government and settle in the Kibbutz Sde-Boker, in the Israeli Negev. A kibbutz ( Hebrew: קיבוץ קִבּוּץ lit "gathering clustering" plural kibbutzim) is a collective community in Sde Boker (שְׂדֵה בּוֹקֵר lit Cowboy's Field) is a Kibbutz in the Negev desert of southern Israel. He had a major role in the reprisal operations that lead to the Qibya massacre at the end of 1953. The Qibya Massacre was carried out in October 1953 by Israeli troops in the West Bank village of Qibya. He returned to office in 1955 assuming the post of Defense Minister and later prime minister.

Returning to government, Ben-Gurion raided Gaza - still under Egyptian rule - in retaliation for the Palestinian guerrilla attacks Israel was sustaining, killing 38 Egyptian soldiers in the process. Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser, angered by this hit to Egyptian pride, started building up his arms with the help of the Soviet Union. Gamal Abdel Nasser (جمال عبد الناصر Gamāl ‘Abd an-Nāṣir; - January 15 1918 September 28 1970) was the second President This scared the Israelis and they started arming themselves with help from the French. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Then Nasser ordered the nationalization of the Suez Canal, which was seen as very threatening action toward Israel, France, and Britain. Nationalization, also spelled nationalisation, is the act of taking an industry or assets into the Public ownership of a national government These countries needed the trade route under international control again and so Ben-Gurion collaborated with the British and French to plan the 1956 Sinai War in which Israel stormed the Sinai Peninsula thus giving British and French forces a pretext to intervene in order to secure the Suez Canal. The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, (أزمة السويس - العدوان الثلاثي Crise du canal de Suez מבצע קדש Kadesh The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai ( Coptic: sina; Egyptian Arabic: sina سينا Arabic, sina'a سيناء The Suez Canal is a Canal in Egypt. Opened in 1869 it allows Water transportation between Europe and Asia without circumnavigation Intervention by the United States and the United Nations forced the British, French and Israelis to back down. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security

Ben-Gurion stepped down as prime minister for what he described as personal reasons in 1963, and chose Levi Eshkol as his successor. (לֵוִי אֶשְׁכּוֹל born Levi Školnik (לֵוִי שׁקוֹלנִיק on 25 October 1895, died 26 February 1969) A year later a rivalry developed between the two on the issue of the Lavon Affair. The Lavon Affair refers to the scandal over a failed Israeli Covert operation in Egypt known as Operation Susannah, in which Israeli military Ben-Gurion broke with the party in June 1965 over Eshkol's handling of the Lavon affair and formed a new party, Rafi which won ten seats in the Knesset. Rafi (רפ"י an acronym for Reshimat Poalei Yisrael (רשימת פועלי ישראל lit For Beit Knesset a Jewish Place of worship, see Synagogue. The Knesset (כנסת lit After the Six-Day War, Ben-Gurion was in favour of returning all the occupied territories apart from Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and Mount Hebron. Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the Borders of Israel The Golan Heights ( الجولان al-Jawlān, הגולן ha-Golan) is a strategic Plateau and mountainous Mount Hebron (הר חברון is a geographic region and geologic formation in Judea, an area in modern Israel and the West Bank. ^[18]

In 1968, when Rafi merged with Mapai to form the Alignment, Ben-Gurion refused to reconcile with his old party. The Alignment (המערך HaMa'arakh) was an alliance of the major left-wing parties in Israel between the 1960s and 1990s He favoured electoral reforms in which a constituency-based system would replace the chaotic proportional representation method. He formed another new party, the National List, which won four seats in the 1969 election. The National List (רשימה ממלכתית Reshima Mamlakhtit) sometimes translated as the State List, was a political party in Israel. Elections for the seventh Knesset were held in Israel on 28 October 1969 Ben-Gurion retired from politics in 1970 and spent his last years living in a modest home on the kibbutz. A kibbutz ( Hebrew: קיבוץ קִבּוּץ lit "gathering clustering" plural kibbutzim) is a collective community in

Ben-Gurion is buried alongside his wife Paula at a site in Midreshet Ben-Gurion in the Negev desert. Midreshet Ben-Gurion (מדרשת בן-גוריון also known as Midreshet Sde Boker, is a communal settlement in southern Israel.

Commemoration

• Israel's largest airport, Ben-Gurion International Airport is named in his honour. Ben Gurion International Airport (נמל התעופה בן גוריון Namal HaTe'ūfa Ben Gūryōn,, also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag (נתב"ג An airport is a location where Aircraft such as airplanes, Helicopters and blimps take off and land Ben Gurion International Airport (נמל התעופה בן גוריון Namal HaTe'ūfa Ben Gūryōn,, also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag (נתב"ג
• One of Israel's major universities, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, located in Beersheva, is named after him. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (אוניברסיטת בן גוריון בנגב was founded in 1969, in Beersheba, Israel.
• Numerous streets throughout Israel have been named after him.

Footnotes

References

• "Special Report David Ben-Gurion" BBC News.
• "David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973)" Jewish Agency for Israel.
• "The Identity of israel - David Ben-Gurion".
• Biography and quotes of Ben-Gurion PalestineRemembered. com.

External links

• Photos of David Ben-Gurion

Political offices
Preceded by (none)	Chairman of the Provisional State Council May 14, 1948 - May 17, 1948	Succeeded by Chaim Weizmann
Preceded by (none)	Leader of Mapai 1948–1954	Succeeded by Moshe Sharett
Preceded by Moshe Sharett	Leader of Mapai 1955–1963	Succeeded by Levi Eshkol
Preceded by new party	Leader of Rafi 1965–1968	Succeeded by ceased to exist
Preceded by new party	Leader of the National List 1968–1970	Succeeded by Yigael Hurvitz

Persondata
NAME	Ben-Gurion, David
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Grün, David; דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן
SHORT DESCRIPTION	First Prime Minister of Israel
DATE OF BIRTH	October 16, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH	Płońsk, Poland
DATE OF DEATH	December 1, 1973
PLACE OF DEATH	Sde Boker

Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1521 - Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for Treason. Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( Hebrew: חיים עזריאל ויצמן – November 27, 1874 &ndash November 9, 1952) was a Zionist for the town in Mozambique see Mapai Mozambique Mapai (מפא"י an acronym for Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael (מפלגת Moshe Sharett (משה שרת born Moshe Shertok (Hebrew משה שרתוק on 15 October 1894, died 7 July 1965) was the second Moshe Sharett (משה שרת born Moshe Shertok (Hebrew משה שרתוק on 15 October 1894, died 7 July 1965) was the second for the town in Mozambique see Mapai Mozambique Mapai (מפא"י an acronym for Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael (מפלגת (לֵוִי אֶשְׁכּוֹל born Levi Školnik (לֵוִי שׁקוֹלנִיק on 25 October 1895, died 26 February 1969) Rafi (רפ"י an acronym for Reshimat Poalei Yisrael (רשימת פועלי ישראל lit The National List (רשימה ממלכתית Reshima Mamlakhtit) sometimes translated as the State List, was a political party in Israel. The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and is the most powerful political officer in Israel (the President of Israel being a titular figurehead Events 456 - Magister militum Ricimer defeats the Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western Year 1886 ( MDCCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Płońsk (Plonsk is a town in north-central Poland with 22258 inhabitants (2006 Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Events 800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. Sde Boker (שְׂדֵה בּוֹקֵר lit Cowboy's Field) is a Kibbutz in the Negev desert of southern Israel.

---

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic