David Ben Gurion's Beliefs

David Ben Gurion

David Ben Gurion was the founder of Israel and established the country on May 14, 1948. He was the first prime minister of Israel and wanted to strengthen Israel economically and militarily. This contributed to his biased support of the Country of Israel and the idea that the Jews should have a safe haven where they can practice their beliefs. David Ben Gurion had strong Zionistic beliefs, a background that formed his beliefs, great impacts on the Israeli-Arab conflict, and was viewed differently by the varying sides of the conflict.

David Ben Gurion firmly believed in the idea of Zionism and actively supported it. Zionism is the idea that Israel has the right to exist and be its own country as well as a safe place for the practice of their beliefs. Since Gurion was a supporter of Zionism, he believed the Jews should reclaim their land in Palestine. He believed the best way to do this was for Jewish families to establish and work

on farms in Palestine in order to form a state. Therefore, in 1906, he moved to Palestine to work on a farm due to his dedication to Zionism. He wanted to spread Zionists beliefs and he was at one time the chairman of the Zionist executive, which was the highest oversight of Zionism. In 1955, Gurion headed the Jewish Agency for Palestine, which was established to try and create a Jewish state while maintaining peace with the Arabs. Gurion feared the fate of the Jews in the midst of the conflict; however, he was a motivator and went many places to help the Zionist movement prevail and help the Jews gain their own country. He sought a peaceful homeland for the Jews, but he encourages the Jews to form a military and stand up to the Arabs and to the British when they gained control of Palestine.

David Ben Gurion’s beliefs were formed by his childhood as well as his experiences. Gurion’s father was a leader in the Lovers of Zion, which was a movement encouraging Jews to take back their home land in Palestine. This led Gurion to become a Zionist guerilla fighter for the Jewish when he was a teen. He created Zionist meetings at his orthodox Hebrew school to discuss Zionism and its importance. This was a factor later leading him to dedicating his life to the Zionist cause and helping Jews gain their homeland and country. Gurion observed anti-Semitism increasing in Europe and witnessed the attacks from the Arabs on the Israelis because the Arabs were afraid of the Israeli’s growing power. Anti-Semitism is the discrimination of the Jewish religion and ethnic group. This caused Gurion to become a motivator and encourage the formation of Jewish militant groups to act out against the British.
David Ben Gurion had a lasting impact on Israel as well as the Jewish people because of his dedication to Zionism.

Gurion was expelled from Palestine in 1915 because of his Zionist activities, so he began working to fulfill the purpose of Zionism and he took step to create a Jewish state. Everything Gurion did was for the Zionistic cause and he campaigned tirelessly in support of Zionism, mostly seeking the help of the U.S. and Britain until Britain gained control of Palestine. He encouraged the formation of a Jewish military in Palestine and he created a group of Jewish volunteers to fight in WWI after the Balfour Declaration was passed in attempt to establish the Jewish homeland. When Britain gained power over Palestine after WWI, Gurion encouraged the Jews to fight back against the British and rebel against them. The actions were made by Gurion in support of Zionism and he believed these actions would allow the Jews to gain their own Country. Finally after Gurion helped Israel win wars against the Palestinians

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Neighboring Arab countries, his hard work with the Zionism movement resulted in his ability to establish Israel as its own country.
David Ben Gurion is respected by both the Israelis and the Arabs. He is respected by the Arabs for his attempts to make peace between Israel and the Arab world. Gurion is seen as a well-respected leader because of his great efforts to create a safe haven for the Jews and he established Israel. However, this is the same reason some Palestinians loath him, because he work against them to create Israel.
Gurion was later elected in 1949 by the Knesset, or the Israeli Parliament, to be Israel’s first Prime Minister. He continued to strengthen Israel creating a military as well as alliances with countries such as the U.S. Gurion continued to make attempts to gain peace with the Arabs after the war, all of which failed and Arab attacks did not cease. He continued to strengthen and enhance Israel, and he resumed protecting their country against the Arabs using his bias and strong beliefs for Israel.