THE BEN-GURION PERSPECTIVE: The Diaspora and the Meaning of Zionism during Israel’s First Decade

The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 posed significant challenges for David Ben-Gurion, its founding father and first prime minister, regarding the relationship between the new sovereign state, the Zionist Movement, and the Jewish Diaspora. While Israel was defined as a “Jewish State,” embodying the unity of Jews worldwide, it also strived to establish a democratic nation based on a social contract with its citizens. This tension between the “Jewish” and the “civil” has continued to shape Israeli society and politics. This chapter explores Ben-Gurion’s post-1948 relationship with diaspora Zionists, particularly the American–Zionist establishment, and highlights his unique Zionist doctrine as revealed in a detailed article published in the 1957 Israeli Government Yearbook. Ben-Gurion sought to evaluate the contrasting realities of Jewish majority in Israel and Jewish minority existence in the Diaspora, rejecting post-1948 diasporic Zionism and emphasizing the revolutionary nature of the Jewish state. In this context, he saw the Diaspora as a crucial educational tool to cultivate a new mamlakhti (republican) self-consciousness in Israel.