David Ben-Gurion

Politician

1886 – 1973

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Who was David Ben-Gurion?

David Ben-Gurion was an Israeli statesman. He is the main 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 Germany's prosecution of the Holocaust against the Jews.

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Born
Oct 16, 1886
Płońsk
Also known as
  • בן גוריון
  • דוד בן גוריון
  • הירוק
  • ראש הממשלה הראשון
  • David Grün
  • דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן
  • דוד בן-גוריון
  • HaZaken
  • David Green
Parents
Spouses
Children
Religion
  • Judaism
Ethnicity
  • Ashkenazi Jews
  • Poles
  • Israelis
Nationality
  • Israel
Profession
Education
  • Istanbul University
    Law
  • University of Warsaw
Died
Dec 1, 1973
Tel HaShomer
Resting place
Midreshet Ben-Gurion

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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"David Ben-Gurion." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/david_ben-gurion>.

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