David Ben Gurion

First PM of Israel

For many of us, David Ben Gurion is known as the man who declared Israel’s Independence as one of its primary founders and served as the first prime minister of Israel. However, how much do we truly know about him? Here we will give you a brief look into his life. David Ben Gurion was born as David Gruen on October 16th, 1886, in Poland. From a very young age, he was an activate for the Jewish people.

**In This Photo: Ben Gurion as Prime Minister Declares the State of Israel on May 15th in 1948.**

An Activist From A Very Young Age

By age 14, he founded an association in Warsaw dedicated to promoting Hebrew studies and immigration to the land of Israel. And by age 20, he immigrated to Israel and began working as an agricultural farmer on a kibbutz close to Galilee. Soon after, he began his pursuit of law studies where he started going by the name of David Ben Gurion after his first penned article. Now In 1915, during WW1, he was deported to Egypt; made his way to New York, and founded a movement to get young Jewish people to move to the land of Israel. And in 1918, he enlisted in the British army; where he was sent to fight for Israel.

**In This Photo: The Bedroom of David Ben Gurion in His Desert Home in the Negev**

Just a year later, in 1919, he returned to Israel and became a prominent leader in the Jewish community and so began his journey that would impact Israel forever. For 15 years, he served as the Secretary-General of the trade union that protected Jewish laborers in Israel. After, Ben Gurion became the head of the Worker’s Party in Israel, which was the largest sector of the Zionist movement at the time.

David Ben Gurion Always A Pragmatic Politician

So in 1937, he agreed that the land of Israel needed to be separated into two different Jewish and Arab states. After the White Paper was established by the British to restrict Jewish peoples’ emigration to the Holy Land; Then Ben Gurion quietly began a movement for clandestine emigration and the establishment of Jewish communities wherever possible. After WW2, Ben Gurion began preparing an army that could withstand attacks from neighboring countries. Eventually, his preparations led to the creation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

In This Photo: David’s Ben Gurion Tomb at **Sde Boker**

So on May 14th, 1948, David Ben Gurion gave the inspiring speech that proclaimed Israel’s independence. Moreover, he was elected Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense; two positions he held for 13 years. In just his first term in office; he more than doubled Israel’s Jewish population through mass emigration. Now David Ben Gurion did not solely fight for the Jewish people; but he fought to ensure that all people; of all faiths; were treated equally and fairly to create a peaceful state for all.

Ben Gurion is Moving to a Kibbutz

With that in mind, David Ben Gurion fostered friendly relations with many different countries worldwide; including Europe; Africa; and the Americas; to gain global support for Israel. Finally, in 1953, he resigned as Prime Minister and went to live the life he had encouraged countless others to do. At kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev, he worked alongside the community’s residents to develop the untouched land. Today David Ben Gurion is buried in Kibbutz Sde Boker, in the same lands he worked and plowed the fields.

Hi! My name is Arik Haglili, an Israeli native who decided to dedicate his life to share my knowledge about the Holy Land to those that are interested to know more about this amazing piece of land. My career as a private tour guide started at the International School For the Studying of the Holocaust and the rest is history.

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