New archive sheds light on Israel's 1st prime minister David Ben-Gurion

A new archive and visitor center was recently inaugurated in the southern kibbutz of Sde Boker of who is perhaps the most iconic figure in the short history of Israel – David Ben-Gurion, the first Israeli prime minister considered to be the founder of the Jewish state. 

Ramon Ziv Av, head of the Ben-Gurion Heritage Archive Division, gave i24NEWS a rare tour of the new archive which contains two floors and is near Ben-Gurion's famous home. 

At the archive and a visitor center, one can see selective documents, photos, and letters which shed light on this fascinating figure and on the Zionist movement. For example, there is a letter he wrote to his son Amos from 1937.

The letter starts with Ben-Gurion complaining, "Why don't you write to me more often?" like a good Jewish father. But then he writes the reasons why the Jewish people should accept the recommendations of the Peel commission from 1936, which suggested partitioning Palestine into two countries - Jewish and Arab.

Ben-Gurion was in London at that time and participated in the discussion. He supported the Peel commission resolution, although most of the Jews in Palestine opposed it, including his own son. On the second floor, one can see the archive with tens of thousands of documents, some of them sensitive and classified. A look at some of the letters exposes Ben-Gurion's policy from different opinions, such as the Palestinians, religion, and foreign affairs.

Another letter shows that Ben-Gurion asked his predecessor Levi Eshkol in 1963 to act against ultra-Orthodox figures who protested and rioted against authorities. He said in the letter: "I released Yeshiva students from military service. I did that when their number was small, but now there are more. We can't be seen in the world like South Africa or Alabama," suggesting that Israel may turn to an apartheid state. "I suggest that every Yeshiva student who throws stones and acts in violence will be sent to 3 years in [Israel's army]."

Ziv Av of the Ben-Gurion Heritage Archive Division also showed i24NEWS a turning point in Ben-Gurion's life when he decided to retire and move to Sde Boker, a small kibbutz in a remote area in the southern Negev desert.

"In 1953, Ben-Gurion is Prime Minister and Minister of Defense for five years. He's starting to get tired. In May 1953, he drives to the Ramon Crater, and on his way back he sees Sde Boker, he stops by and meets the people there. When he comes back to Tel Aviv, something happens to him. After a week, he writes to the members of Sde Boker: 'Dear friends, on the last few days I read in the newspapers that you celebrated a year since your founding. I was never jealous of anyone or anything, not of property or status that someone has, although I have many friends with high quality. However, on my visit, I found it hard to resist the feeling of envy. Why couldn't I take part in this enterprise?'."

In 1955, Ben-Gurion returned to the Prime Minister’s Office but continued to spend some time at Sde Boker. This small kibbutz was founded in 1952 by a group of soldiers who fought the 1948 independence war. The first idea, according to the story, was of a Native American volunteer named Jesse Slader who came from Texas and had a vision of a cowboy's ranch in the Israeli desert.

Ben-Gurion continued to live in the kibbutz until his death in 1973. This was where he hosted celebrities, leaders, and even common people who used to meet and talk with him. Ziesel Miriam Rahimi, a marketing coordinator at The Ben-Gurion Desert-Home told i24NEWS that she believes that Ben-Gurion's vision is still valid:

"I would say that there is no expiration day on his vision. He said that we need to have five million people living in the Negev and we are not even close to that. The Negev is 60 percent of the surface of the country but we only have eight percent of the population," she said.

Rahimi, who moved here from the United States, is optimistic: "In his statement to make the desert bloom, I think that we are making the desert bloom in certain ways."

In Israel, in order to be realistic, you must believe in miracles. These words by David Ben-Gurion perhaps capture not only his character but the vision of the people in the Negev Desert.