David Ben-Gurion

1886–1973 · Zionist statesman & first Prime Minister of Israel

David Ben-Gurion led the Zionist movement in Mandatory Palestine and, on 14 May 1948, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel, becoming its first prime minister and defense minister. He guided the new state through the 1948 war and its early nation-building years. His remark that Israelis must believe in miracles to be realists captured his sense of the country’s improbable birth and survival.

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“Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles is not a realist”

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