David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion (Oct 16, 1886 Plonsk (Poland) - Dec 1, 1973 Tel-Aviv) was the founder of the modern state of Israel, which he proclaimed on May 4, 1948. He served Israel as its first prime minister and minister of defense.
A Zionist, he settled in Palestine as an orchard worker in 1906. He was involved in the foundation of the worker's union Histradut (general secretary 1921 - 1935) and of the socialist party Mapai. As chairman of the Jewish Agency (1935-1948), he organized the immigration of Jewish refugees from Europe to Palastine against the resistance of the Palastinian Arabs and the British, who hold a League of Nations mandate. In 1944, he became president of the World Zionist Organization.
He read extensively, accumulating a library of some 20,000 books.[1]
References
- Bar-Zohar, Michael: Ben Gurion, 1971-1974
- â Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Zionist Leaders: Ben-Gurion