A State at Any Cost

June 17, 2019
Israeli historian Segev (1967) provides an exhaustive biography of the country’s first prime minister. Drawing on his subject’s prolific writings and historical archives, Segev traces David Ben-Gurion’s life from his 1886 birth in the small Polish town of Płonsk to his death in 1973. As a teenager, Ben-Gurion lectured on Jewish independence; he moved to Palestine in 1906 (motivated by Zionist ideology but also personal unhappiness) and became a socialist labor organizer convinced that the conflict between his people’s aspirations and those of Palestinian Arabs couldn’t be resolved peacefully. He became a left-wing political leader and then the first prime minister of the new country upon its establishment in 1948. In perhaps the most newsworthy section, Segev writes that Ben-Gurion opposed the preemptive strike that launched the Six-Day War, because he accurately predicted that a victory involving the acquisition of more territory would dramatically increase the number of Arabs under Israeli control. Segev’s Ben-Gurion comes across as personally abrasive—an unfaithful spouse and indifferent parent who could be ruthless in pursuing his political goals. Segev persuasively shows how Ben-Gurion’s early choices foreshadowed those he would make later, but the book is sometimes weighed down by detail. The nonspecialist might be better served by less encyclopedic treatments.

July 1, 2019
The eminent Israeli journalist and historian chronicles the life of a driven leader who galvanized others to the exhausting, relentless pursuit of a state of Israel. Born in Poland, David Ben-Gurion (1886-1943) was, from an early age, laser-focused on the creation of a Jewish state, and he was often perceived as heartless, especially--tellingly--by those closest to him. Segev (Simon Wiesenthal: The Life and Legends, 2010, etc.) attributes this quality to the loss of his mother after another childbirth when he was 11, a trauma that colored all relationships Ben-Gurion had henceforth, especially those with women. Yet he also had an educated father who conducted legal business with Christians and established an early Zionist society in his Polish village which clearly influenced his son. The author clearly captures the relentless, rather oblivious quality of Ben-Gurion's personality as well as his quixotic side. He left for Warsaw as a teen, before his close group of boyhood friends did, and while he was confident he would gain entrance to a technological school--in order to learn skills to aid the new Jewish state--he lacked the essential ambition to complete the work. Instead, he immersed himself in the socialist labor alternative to Zionism, the Bund, and honed his leadership skills. As a leader, he traveled to America and the European capitals, drumming up support for the Zionist cause. The rise of Hitler and Nazi aggression changed everything, and Ben-Gurion regarded the tragedy not in terms of numbers of Jews murdered but rather as a setback for gaining settlers for the state. The 1948 declaration of the Jewish state signaled a celebration for everyone except Ben-Gurion, who knew it meant war and the sacrifice of Jewish lives. Essentially, he sanctioned the policy of forcible removal of Arab villagers during the war of independence; afterward, he noted, "an Arab is first and foremost an Arab." For him, there was no compromise, and the fortress mentality still festers to this day. A fair portrait of a difficult, hard-nosed character who, like him or not, had enormous impact on 20th-century events.

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August 1, 2019

To say that Segev (Simon Wiesenthal) has written another history of David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973) would be an understatement. Using newly available archives as well as an incredible eye for characterization, the author presents a definitive biography of Israel's former prime minister. While Ben-Gurion's legacy still weighs heavily, even in modern-day Israel, Segev sets out to reanalyze that legacy with fresh interpretations. Few would question Ben-Gurion's drive, but Segev illustrates moments of the leader's ambivalence to native Palestinians, all the while pushing forth with a Jewish Nation State. Segev masterfully displays Ben-Gurion's political and military strengths throughout, from his secret 1948 negotiations with the British to the 1956 Suez crisis, while also delving into personal opinions on family, friends, and rivals. Featuring many characters and nuances, this translation from Watzman will at times cause even the most devoted history buff to pause and do some brief online research before proceeding. VERDICT Scholars and devoted readers of political history, notably of the Middle East, will turn to Segev's majestic analysis of this pivotal leader for decades to come.--Keith Klang, Port Washington P.L., NY

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