David Ben-Gurion

March 11, 2023, 6:45 am

New desert promenade will take visitors on Ben-Gurion’s favorite Negev walk

Sde Boker, where the first prime minister lived after retiring, gets an upgrade that aims to draw tourists while keeping their footprint small

By Danielle Nagler

Israelis protest against the Israeli government, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, on January 7, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

January 11, 2023, 1:44 pm

Battle over High Court exposes frailty of Israel’s piecemeal system of government

The center-left’s fears are reasonable, the right’s arguments authentic; both sides should get past the current shrill debate and restructure a broken system of checks and balances

By Haviv Rettig Gur

Argentinian poet Jorge Luis Borges holds a press conference while in Madrid, Spain, in 1963. (Getty Images via JTA)

November 11, 2022, 12:38 am

Renowned author’s passion for Israel, Judaism showcased in Buenos Aires

Jorge Luis Borges exhibit in Argentina National Library, co-organized by local Israeli embassy, set to feature events discussing Jewish themes in non-Jewish author’s work

By Juan Melamed

A US Ford 'Liberator' shown over Kiel, Germany, January 4, 1944. On July 10, 1944, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported on an appeal by Auschwitz escapees for the Allies to bomb the death camp. (United States Army Air Forces/Design by Mollie Suss)

September 18, 2022, 3:04 pm

Ken Burns’ Holocaust documentary may be hard on America, but not hard enough

If the film is right and the US cared about the Jews’ plight during the war, then why did it oppose bombing the tracks and bridges that would have saved Jews?

By Rafael Medoff and Monty Penkower

Former IDF chiefs of staff (from L) Ehud Barak, Gabi Ashkenazi, Benny Gantz, Moshe Ya'alon and Gadi Eisenkot speak in an interview with Channel 12 that aired on August 26, 2022. (Screenshot)

August 27, 2022, 10:30 am

Ex-IDF chiefs: Lack of internal solidarity a bigger threat to Israel than Iran nukes

In conversation with Channel 12, five former military heads discuss their efforts over past three decades to foil Tehran’s atomic ambitions and their concerns for Israel’s future

By ToI Staff

July 9, 2022, 12:28 pm

‘No confidence I’m fulfilling my roles’: Archival trove reveals Ben-Gurion anxieties

Founding-PM’s diaries, in which he recorded everything he did — from watching theater to resigning — to be exhibited at Sde Boker, along with rest of ‘dream come true’ archive

By ToI Staff

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the state memorial ceremony for former prime minister David Ben-Gurion, in Sde Boker, November 10, 2021 (Haim Zach/GPO)

November 10, 2021, 2:15 pm

PM calls for unity instead of ‘arguments just for the sake of arguments’

At Ben-Gurion memorial event, Bennett says attacks on coalition are assault on Israeli ‘togetherness’; Herzog: Lawmakers, officials have a duty to strengthen statehood

By ToI Staff

Former prime minister David Ben Gurion, left, speaks as his wife, Paula, right, looks on during a press conference at the Plaza Hotel in New York on March 3, 1967. (AP/John Duricka)

July 16, 2021, 8:22 am

In 1954, Israel’s 1st PM apologized to salesman for not paying for eggs

Daughter-in-law of Zvi Havivi finds letter from David Ben-Gurion expressing wife’s remorse, along with more than 7 liras sent 5 months late

By ToI Staff

David Ben Gurion signs Israel's Declaration of Independence on November 29, 1947. (Hans Pinn/GPO)

June 20, 2021, 1:31 am

Did Ben-Gurion use this pen to sign Declaration of Independence?

Descendant of a signatory to the historical document is attempting to sell the item for $500,000, but his claims are contested by experts

By ToI Staff

Former prime minister David Ben-Gurion's grandson denounces Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a protest at Sde Boker, where an annual memorial event for Ben-Gurion was held, November 22, 2020. (Screenshot/Twitter)

November 22, 2020, 5:43 pm

Ben-Gurion’s grandson at memorial event: ‘F**k Netanyahu, long live Israel’

Over 200 protesters at Sde Boker, home to Israel’s first PM, call for Netanyahu’s resignation as he gives speech

By ToI Staff

Adolf Eichmann is seen standing in his bullet proof glass box as the charges against him are read during judical proceedings in the Beit Ha'Am building in Jerusalem, April 12, 1961. (AP Photo/Str)

May 8, 2020, 10:45 am

History in the making: The Mossad mission to capture Adolf Eichmann

How Israel’s spy agency laid its hands on one of Nazi Germany’s most notorious war criminals and brought him to trial in Jerusalem

By Karinne Delorme

Illustrative; Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, Southern Front Commander Yigal Allon (to his right) and Yitzhak Rabin (between them) pictured on the southern front during the 1948 War of Independence. (IDF / Wikipedia)

April 27, 2020, 2:34 pm

Meanwhile, in other news, Israel’s Labor Party is finished

The party of Ben-Gurion, Eshkol, Meir and Rabin led Israel for decades. Now it has fallen so low, become so discredited and irrelevant, that even its demise barely makes a headline

By David Horovitz

Co-authors David Makovsky (far left) and Ambassador Dennis Ross, with Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz at the National Library of Israel, January 6, 2020. (Udi Alfassi/Tranquilo Productions)

January 7, 2020, 3:45 pm

Israel is on precipice of losing option of two-state solution, say US advisers

Authors ambassador Dennis Ross and David Makovsky warn that Israel is nearing the point of no return with Palestinians, in a live interview with ToI editor David Horovitz

By ToI Staff

Prime Minister Levi Eshkol (L) and David Ben-Gurion at Lydda Airport before the latter's departure to England for Winston Churchill's funeral, January 1965. (GPO)

December 5, 2019, 10:11 am

Invite to Ben-Gurion memorial event uses photo of Levi Eshkol

Culture Ministry denies responsibility for confusing the PMs, after grandson of Israeli founding father’s chides officials for gaffe

By ToI Staff

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, book in hand, and Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin, left, during a visit to the Hatzor Air Force Base on December 3, 2019. (Twitter screen capture)

December 4, 2019, 4:55 am

Bennett sets Twitter abuzz by carrying book of Khomeini’s writings

Defense minister spotted with tome on sharia law, possibly signaling to ayatollahs he’s on to them… or showing Israelis he’s as smart as iconic bookworm politicians of the past

By ToI Staff