“The Palestinians must learn that they will pay a high price for Israeli lives.”
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David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion was the primary national founder and first prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency from 1935, and later president of the Jewish Agency Executive, he was the de facto leader of the Jewish community in Palestine, and largely led the movement for an independent Jewish state in Mandatory Palestine.
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politics · Prime Minister of Israel (1948–1953; 1955–1963) · politician · trade unionist · Zionist · also David Ben-Gurion, David Grün, David Ben Gurion, Ben-Gurion
Born 16 October 1886 · Died 1 December 1973 · Q37610
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2026· 2 entries
Puranoticia.cl: Protestan contra cierre de prekínder en histórica Escuela David Ben Gurión de Valparaíso
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2025· 1 entry
Reported claimRated False. The quote does not appear in the book and experts say it is inconsistent with Ben-Gurion's thought and actions. · AAP
AAP rated the claim “A biography of former Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion reveals that he said terror must be used on the country’s Arab population.” False. The quote does not appear in the book and experts say it is inconsistent with Ben-Gurion's thought and actions..
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
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2003· 1 entry
Indicated that he had a twin brother who died shortly after birth
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1986· 1 entry
Marks where Ben-Gurion lived in London at 75 Warrington Crescent, Maida Vale, W9
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1973· 9 entries
Died 1973-12-01.
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“Fight the war as if there was no White Paper, and the White Paper as if there was no war.”
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“We will make a great and awful mistake if we fail to settle Hebron, neighbor and predecessor of Jerusalem, with a large Jewish settlement, constantly growing and expanding, very soon. This will also be a blessing to the Arab neighbors. Hebron is worthy to be Jerusalem's sister.”
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“In Jerusalem, the United Nations (a truly United Nations) will build a Shrine of the Prophets to serve the federated union of all continents; this will be the seat of the Supreme Court of Mankind, to settle all controversies among the federated continents, as prophesied by Isaiah.”
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“We consider that the United Nations' ideal is a Jewish ideal.”
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“Our right to Palestine, all of it, is unassailable and eternal… I will not concede a single inch of our soil.”
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“If I knew that it was possible to save all the children of Germany by transporting them to England, and only half by transferring them to the Land of Israel, I would choose the latter, for before us lies not only the numbers of these children but the historical reckoning of the people of Israel.”
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“The acceptance of partition does not commit us to renounce Transjordan: one does not demand from anybody to give up his vision. We shall accept a state in the boundaries fixed today, but the boundaries of Zionist aspirations are the concern of the Jewish people and no external factor will be able to limit them.”
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“With us, anyone who doesn't believe in miracles isn't a realist.”
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1971· 2 entries
Awarded Bialik Prize (1971).
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Visited Israeli positions along the Suez Canal during the War of Attrition
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1970· 1 entry
And spent his last years living in a modest home in kibbutz Sde Boker, working on an 11-volume history of Israel's early years
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1969· 2 entries
Combined his Zionism with a moderate religious view: "In 1948 the establishment of a Hebrew state and the independence of Israel were declared, because our people were sure that their prayer would be answered if they
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Career landmark: Knesset member (1969–1970).
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1968· 2 entries
When Rafi merged with Mapai to form the Alignment, Ben-Gurion refused to reconcile with his old party
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Career landmark: Knesset member (1968–1969).
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1965· 2 entries
Career landmark: Knesset member (1965–1968).
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Career landmark: Knesset member (1965–1965).
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1961· 1 entry
Career landmark: Knesset member (1961–1965).
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1960· 1 entry
The mission was accomplished, and Eichmann was tried and convicted in an internationally publicised trial for various offences including crimes against humanity and was subsequently executed in 1962
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1959· 2 entries
Career landmark: Knesset member (1959–1961).
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Ben-Gurion learned from West German officials of reports that the notorious Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann, was likely living in hiding in Argentina
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1957· 1 entry
Ben-Gurion was injured by a grenade thrown into the Knesset plenum by a troubled Jewish immigrant from Syria, Moshe Dwek, who claimed that nobody was being attentive to his needs
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1956· 1 entry
Career landmark: Justice Minister of Israel (1956–1958).
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1955· 4 entries
After the Lavon Affair and the resignation of Pinhas Lavon
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Career landmark: Knesset member (1955–1959).
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Career landmark: Minister of Defense of Israel (1955–1963).
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Career landmark: Prime Minister of Israel (1955–1963).
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1954· 1 entry
Resigned as prime minister and minister of defence but remained a member of the Knesset
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1953· 3 entries
Ben-Gurion announced his intention to withdraw from government and was replaced by Moshe Sharett, who was elected the second Prime Minister of Israel in January 1954
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No serious efforts were made to dissuade him from resigning
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After a handful of unsuccessful retaliatory actions, Ben-Gurion charged Ariel Sharon, then security chief of the northern region, with setting up a new commando unit designed to respond to fedayeen infiltrations
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1952· 1 entry
Career landmark: Minister of Transport and Road Safety (1952–1952).
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1951· 2 entries
Career landmark: Knesset member (1951–1955).
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Career landmark: Education Minister of Israel (1951–1951).
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1949· 3 entries
“We shall fight the War as if there was no White Paper, and the White Paper, as if there was no War.”
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Ben-Gurion was awarded the Solomon Bublick Award of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in recognition of his contributions to the State of Israel
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Career landmark: Knesset member (1949–1951).
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1948· 5 entries
And has stated that Ben-Gurion "covered up for the officers who did the massacres
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Career landmark: Prime Minister of Israel (1948–1954).
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Career landmark: President of the Provisional State Council (1948–1948).
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“The war shall give us the land. The concepts of”
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Career landmark: Minister of Defense of Israel (1948–1954).
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1946· 1 entry
Ben-Gurion and North Vietnam's Politburo chairman Ho Chi Minh became very friendly when they stayed at the same hotel in Paris
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1944· 1 entry
The Irgun and Lehi, two Jewish right-wing armed groups, declared a rebellion against British rule and began attacking British administrative and police targets
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1940· 1 entry
Was buried in Farmingdale, New York in accordance to his will about being buried where he died while also wishing that his remains be "transferred to the Land of Israel only at the express order of the Jewish governme
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1937· 1 entry
The Peel Commission recommended partitioning Palestine into Jewish and Arab areas and Ben-Gurion supported this policy
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1935· 1 entry
Ben-Gurion became chairman of the executive committee of the Jewish Agency, a role he kept until the creation of the state of Israel in 1948
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1931· 1 entry
And My Talks with Arab Leaders published in 1967
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1924· 1 entry
At Ein Harod, Shlomo Kaplansky, a veteran leader from Poalei Zion, proposed that the party should support the British Mandatory authorities' plans for setting up an elected legislative council in Palestine
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1921· 1 entry
Career landmark: general secretary (1921–1973).
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1920· 1 entry
Assisted in the formation of the Histadrut, the Zionist Labor Federation in Palestine, and served as its general secretary from 1921 until 1935
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1918· 1 entry
After a period of guarding prisoners of war in the Egyptian desert, his battalion was transferred to Sarafand
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1915· 1 entry
Met Russian-born Paula Munweis and they married in 1917
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1909· 2 entries
Rose to become the preeminent leader of the Jewish community in British-ruled Mandatory Palestine from 1935 until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, which he led until 1963 with a short break in 1954–55
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Ben-Gurion attempted to learn Arabic but gave up
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1904· 1 entry
Ben-Gurion moved to Warsaw, where he hoped to enroll in the Warsaw Mechanical-Technical School founded by Hipolit Wawelberg
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1903· 1 entry
Collected funds for the victims of the Kishinev pogrom
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1896· 1 entry
Avigdor co-founded a Zionist group called Beni Zion—Children of Zion
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1886· 1 entry
Born 1886-10-16.
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