Ben-Gurion

His Later Years in the Political Wilderness

By: Avi Shilon

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Hardcover | 12 May 2016

At a Glance

Hardcover
284 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
16.2 x 23.7 x 3.1

Hardcover

RRP $100.00

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This is the first in-depth account of the later years of David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973), Israel's first Prime Minister and founding father. One of the first to sign Israel's declaration of independence and a leading figure in Zionism, Ben-Gurion stepped down from office in 1963 and retired from political life in 1970, deeply disappointed about the path on which the state had embarked and the process that brought about the end of his political career. He moved to a kibbutz in the Negev desert, where he lived until his death. Robbed of the public aura that had wrapped him for decades, his revolutionary passion, which was not weakened in his 80s, pushed him to continue seeking social and moral change in Israel, a political solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict, and to conduct a personal and national soul-searching about the development of the State he himself had declared.

Based on his personal archives and new interviews with his intimate friends and family, the book reveals how the founding father explored the Israeli establishment he created and from which he later disengaged. It provides a thorough examination of the decisive moments in the annals of Zionism as revealed through the lens of Ben-Gurion's worldview, which are still relevant to present-day Israel.

Industry Reviews

In the final years of David Ben-Gurion’s life, he lived in the Negev, marginalized from the circles of Israeli political and social power. Based on interviews and Ben-Gurion’s personal archives, this deeply researched examination of Ben-Gurion’s philosophy and actions as a state-builder articulates his role as a framer of Zionism and illuminates the political and social developments that shaped Israel from its inception up to the Yom Kippur War, which broke out just months before Ben-Gurion’s death in December 1973. Shilon’s distinctive focus on Ben-Gurion’s final years opens for readers a heretofore unexamined chapter in his life, revealing how he coped with his marginalization even as he continued to press his distinctive, and increasingly contrarian, vision of the Jewish state. This is a fascinating biography, both for what it reveals about a statesman in his years of decline and for its insights into decisive moments in Israel’s history. A translation from Hebrew, this [is a] perceptive and engaging study. . . .

Summing Up:Recommended. General readers through faculty.

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