Israel gurion biography

This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict. As head of the Jewish Agency from , 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.

Adopting the name of Ben-Gurion in , he rose to become the preeminent leader of the Jewish community in British-ruled Mandatory Palestine from until the establishment of the State of Israel in , which he led until with a short break in — Ben-Gurion's interest for Zionism developed early in his life, leading him to become a major Zionist leader, and the executive head of the World Zionist Organization in On 14 May , he formally proclaimed the establishment of Israel, and was the first to sign the Israeli Declaration of Independence , which he had helped to write.

Father of israel in the bible

Subsequently, he became known as "Israel's founding father ". As prime minister, he helped build state institutions, presiding over national projects aimed at the development of the country. He also oversaw the absorption of Jewish immigrants. A major part of his foreign policy was improving relations with West Germany through a reparations agreement in compensation for Nazi confiscation of Jewish property during the Holocaust.

In , he resigned as prime minister and minister of defence but remained a member of the Knesset. He returned as minister of defence in after the Lavon Affair and the resignation of Pinhas Lavon. Later that year he became prime minister again, following the elections. He backed Israel's reprisal operations to Arab guerrilla attacks and its invasion of Egypt, along with Britain and France, during the Suez Crisis in He stepped down from office in , and retired from political life in He then moved to his modest "hut" in Sde Boker , a kibbutz in the Negev desert, where he lived until his death.