MacFormat 1996 July/macformat-039.iso/DATABASE/SHARED.DIR/01252_13.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 3.7 KB | 213 lines

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Like so many of
the first wave of
Jewish settlers in
Palestine, David
Ben Gurion found
equal inspiration
in Zionism and
socialism. His
work as a labour
leader in the
Twenties and
Thirties helped to
establish the idea
of the collective
settlements
(kibbutzim)
which became an
important part of
Israel's economy
after 1948
#
Though sharing the goal of creating a Jewish State in Palestine, Zionists disagreed
on how this might best be done. Ben Gurion was hostile to the manner in which
Britain ruled Palestine under the League of Nations Mandate, and was a stern critic
of Weizmann's efforts at international diplomacy in the Forties
#
Golda Meir, Israel's prime minister from 1969 to 1973,  was in many ways a typical
Zionist. She was practical in politics, determined in times of crisis, and utterly
dedicated to the cause of the Jewish state
#
Ben Gurion
expressed his
desire to live
in peace with
the Arabs. "In
exchange for
peace," he said,
"I would be
disposed to give
up the occupied
territories
immediately,
except for
Jerusalem. For
us, Jerusalem
is everything."
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Once Britain
notified the
United Nations
of its intention
to give up the
Mandate, a
partition plan
dividing Palestine
into Jewish and
Arab territories
came into effect.
And on May 14,
1948 the State
of Israel was
proclaimed
#
From 1935 until
Independence
Ben Gurion was
chairman of the
Jewish Agency,
which organised
the Jewish
immigration and
settlement of
Palestine. This
made him the
natural choice to
head the provi-
sional government
#
The partition plan
drawn up by the
UN in 1947 was
accepted at first
by neither the
Jews nor the
Arabs. Ben Gurion
and his colleagues
had little choice
but to recognize it
the following
year when the
British pulled out,
but the Arabs
and their allies
rejected the
settlement and
went to war -
MORE CAPTION
TO COME FOR
ROLLOVER
#
Israeli forces
inflicted a
stinging defeat on
the Arab armies,
and by the end of
the 60-day War
of Independence
Israel had much
improved its
territorial
position on the
UN plan. Ben
Gurion's Labour
(Mapai) Party
was rewarded
with victory in
the elections
which followed
#
The new Jewish
state was
desperate for
people to toil in
the fields, to
work in industry,
to bear arms and
to produce the
next generation
of Israelis.
Thousands of
US immigrants,
survivors of the
Holocaust and
Jews from other
Arab countries
answered the call
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Ben Gurion's
socialist roots
and his experience
as general secretary
of the Histradut
(the trade union
organisation)
made him the
champion of the
workers' co-
operative move-
ment. In the first
three decades of
Israel's existence,
kibbutzim and
union-owned
enterprises
were the backbone
of the economy
#
In 1956 Israeli
forces attempted
to take advantage
of  the Suez Crisis
by occupying the
Sinai desert and
Gaza Strip, but
Ben Gurion (in his
second term as
prime minister)
was put under
pressure to
withdraw by his
American allies
#
War broke out
again in 1967.
Arabs and Jews
accused each
other of provoking
the conflict after
Israel launched
attacks against
Syria, Egypt, Jordan
and Lebanon. The
Israelis seized
Old Jerusalem
where Ben Gurion
congratulated the
victorious troops
#
The campaign of June 1967 (which became known as the Six Day War) was a dazzling
display of Israel's military superiority over its Arab neighbours. It made a celebrity
of Moshe Dayan, mastermind of the campaign
#
Ben Gurion
resigned from
office in 1963,
and subsequently
led a breakaway
Labour Party
(Rafi) from 1965
until 1967.
Retiring from
politics, he went
back to live on
his beloved
kibbutz at Sde
Boker in the
Negev desert,
where he would
take a daily walk
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