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Ben Gurion Memorial National Park



The park is a memorial situated in the valley of Nahal Zin, in the central Negev Mountains, adjacent to the Sde-Boker Academy. It is the grave site of David Ben-Gurion, first prime Minister of the State of Israel, and his wife Paula. The site is well-integrated into the indigenous landscape and environment, because of the use of local stones and rocks and plantings of the native flora of the Land of Israel and its deserts.




David Ben-Gurion

David Ben-Gurion is counted among the greatest personalities in the annals of the People of Israel. He was born in 1886 in Plonsk, Poland, in 1906 he emigrated to Palestine, becoming an agricultural worker in various places around the country. After the revolution of the Young Turks in 1908, he went to Istanbul to study law, thus preparing himself to be the representative of the Jewish Settlement in Palestine, at the center of the Ottoman Empire.
Deported to Alexandria by the Turks in 1915, during World War I, he sailed to the United States, where he renewed his political activity in the framework of the group called "Po'alei Tzion" ("Workers of Zion"). It was there that he met Paula, and married her in 1917. A year later he enlisted in the famed "Jewish Battalion" of the British Army. When he returned to Palestine after the war, he dedicated himself to public service.
From 1935-1948 he was Chairman of the Jewish Agency administration, in which post most of his dealings - and the major part of his energies - were devoted to the issues of Jewish Settlements, the question of relations with the British Mandate authorities, and problems of the Zionist Movement and the world's Jewish communities. During the period of the "White Paper" issued by London in 1939 and put into effect by the British Government of Palestine, Ben-Gurion reacted very aggressively to the limitation of the Jewish immigration and the curtailment of the rights of the Jews to acquire land in Israel. He planned the increase of illegal immigration into the land of Israel during and after Word War II.
Following the decision taken by the United Nation Assembly on November 29, 1947, in favor of the partitioning of Palestine and the establishment of the Jewish State there, Ben-Gurion headed the political and security activities needed for its realization. Despite the U.N. decision, the war of independence broke out. At the end of the British Mandate over Palestine, on May 14, 1948, Ben-Gurion announced the establishment of the State of Israel. David Ben-Gurion served as Prime Minister of the state of Israel until he resigned in 1954, at which time he retired to Sde Boker, in pursuit of his dream of making the Negev bloom. About a year later, following a political crisis, Ben-Gurion was called out of retirement to serve as Minister of Defense in the government of Moshe Sharett. In the elections held that same year, he was returned to the premiership, retaining the Defense portfolio as well.
In 1963 Ben-Gurion resigned from the government. A year later he also resigned from the "Mapai" party and formed a new political party called "Rafi". Later he also resigned from the Knesset (Israel's Parliament) and - for the second time - retired from public life and returned to Sde-Boker.
He dedicated the rest of his life to writing history publishing many books, articles and memoirs. He died in 1973.
One may learn much concerning the biography of David Ben-Gurion, his dream and work, in the building adjacent to his tomb. one may also visit his and Paula's last dwelling place - their cabin at Kibbutz Sdde-Boker.

Our gratitude to the Authority for Nature reserves and National Parks for their permission to use the text from their folder for our "Live" site.
The pictures by: Pinhas Baraq

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