A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion

Both his admirers and his rivals agreed that he was his generation’s most singular man. But, paradoxically, his uniqueness was almost a norm for many members of his generation. As Jews, they were anomalous in their non-Jewish surroundings; as Zionists, they were anomalous among Jews; as Israelis, they were anomalous in their Arab surroundings; as s

“In my opinion, Judaism is a historical experience,”

The motivation for building is “aesthetic, religious, and transcendental,” he said, but when it is time to build, “you have to weigh and measure … The same is true with statecraft.”

“I am that I am,”

Several plans aimed at saving tens of thousands of children were not implemented, in part because the British refused to grant immigration certificates.

“There is a historical philosophy that sees war as man’s highest destiny,” he said. He was referring to the Nazis and Arabs. “This philosophy is an abomination to Judaism as we understand it and as it was understood, I believe, by the prophets and sages of the Bible.” At a Cabinet meeting he remarked, “An army is the most dangerous thing there is i

“And you feel totally helpless, you can’t even get furious, and the sun is shining in all its glory,”

“What business do we have with ideology-shmideology? The Jewish nation is being destroyed!”

“We must stress the positive,” he said. “It is not good for us to stand in the light of ‘the whole world is against us.’”