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Page 8-THE NEWS-January. 1984 T^T JLUB Jewish Books in Review is a service of the IWB Jewish Book Council, 15 East 26th St., New York, N.Y. 10010 Ho^ IsraeVs Borders Were Shaped Ben-Gurion: Prophet of Fire, By Dan Kurzman, Simon and Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. 1983. 544 pa^s, with extensive notes, bibliography and index, $19.95. Reviewed by David M. Szonyi The result of fifteen years of research and three of writing, and based in part on over 500 interviews, Ben-Gurion: Prop het of Fire captures the pas sionate, driven quality of Israel’s founding father. Ben- Gurion often was daring, courageous and insistent on pursuing policies tht the ma jority of Ms Labor comrades opposed, but he could also be a patient, disiplined institu- tion-build^. Practically alone, he established the Histadrut (Israel’s huge labor union and manufacturing concern), and forged the disparate elements of Palestine’s non-Communist Left into Mapai (the Labor Party). In 1948, he devoted himself with characteristic intensity to military affairs, forging Israel’s army and, in the pro cess, eliminating threats to its unity from both the political Right (Menachem Begin’s Ir- gun) and the Left (the Mapam- dominated Palmach). His quick transformation from a political leader to a military tactician is comparable to that of Leon Trotsky in 1917. His self-confident intensity, however, sometimes led to Machiavellian ruthlessness. In 1933, when two Revisionist Zionists were accused of the assassination of Labor leader Chaim Arlosorff, Ben-Gurion hungrily exploited the charges — which were never proved — during the election campaign for the forthcoming Zionist congress. Twenty years later, he blamed Israeli settlers for the massacre of civilians in the Jordanian town of Kibya dur ing an anti-terrorist action. Although he knew the slaugh ter had been perpetrated by Commando Unit 101, led by Ariel Sharon, Ben-Gurion was intent on protecting the reputation of his belowed army. If his writing is occasional ly a bit hagiographic — at one point, he refers to Ben-Gurion as a '*new messiah,” and several times calls him a “prophet” — Kurzman also probes his subject’s failures and weaknesses. One of his best chapters is on Ben- Gurion during the Holocaust, a period during which he was so focused on contesting Chaim Weizmann for the leadership of the Zionist move ment that he “barely squeak ed” about the terrible plight of European Jewry. Other biographers of Ben- Gurion that I’ve read “fade” in dealing with the period following the War of In dependence, but Kurzman is as informative about the 1949-63 period as he is about the rest of Ben-Gurion’s life. He shows us the “old man’s” misgivings about the 1956 Sinai campaign — with some reason, he mistrusted his British and French allies — and his desperate search for political and military support in Paris, Bonn and Washmg- ton throughout the 1950s and early ’60s. During his last five years in power, Ben-Gurion also fought with the rest of the Labor “establishment” by try ing to bring Shimon Peres, Moshe Dayan, and other polit ical proteges into positions of power. The last years of Ben- Gurion’s long (1886-1973) life were hardly satisfying. He was increasingly obsessed with the intricate spy-defense scandal known as the Lavon Affair, and his retirement was marred by the political fiasco around his attempts to organize a new political party (Rafi), his wife’s death, and times of mental confusion. Before his death a few months after the Yom Kippur War ended, Ben- Gurion experienced much isolation and loneliness in Sde Boker; he was a prophet who had outlived his time. Kurzman is particularly revealing about Ben-Gurion’s personal qualities. He could, for example, be cruelly neglectful of his wife, Paula. During their forty-seven year marriage, she often paid the price for Ben-Gurion’s grow ing prominence, although she remained a highly devoted mother/protector figure for him. Among the more positive sides of his personality were Ben-Gurion’s loyalty and devotion to his staff, his capacity for close, life-long friendships with women (especially Rachel Nelkin, the great love of his early adulthood), his anti materialism and his love for books and learning. The major weakness of Kurzman’s biography is its lack of distance from its sub ject, its focus on narrative to the exclusion of analysis. If the author is a gifted stylist, he unfortunately slurs over some important issues. For example, he relates that it took Ben-Gurion two years (1928-1930) to unite the Imperial printing products Specialists In Raised Printing Stationery — Business Cards Wedding ^ Bar Mitzvah Invitations Business & Social Announcements disparate political groupings that were to become Mapai, but he never really informs us what the issues were. This weakness prevents Ben-Gurion: Prophet of Fire from being a definitive biography, one which really encompasses the full achieve ments and shortcomings of this extraordinary figure. Given Ben-Gurion’s leadership of both the Zionist movement and Israel for almost half a century, such a biography should be longer and more in clusive than Kurzman’s. But Kurzman, a careful and hard working researcher and an im mensely gifted writer, has nevertheless produced a very fine one-volume work, one which is equally informative about the man and the polit ical leader. If a little too focus ed on Ben-Gurion himself (as opposed to the forces and times which shaped him), this biography still conclusively demonstrates why “B-G” is perhaps the one “giant” of twentieth-century Jewish history. David M. Szonyi, Associate Director, The Radius Institute in New York, is contributing Editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times and The Long Island Jewish World. 4731 Sw»d9n Road Chartotta. N.C. 28210 (704) SS4H88 Stuart Colac PrMid«nt Happiness Is — Having a Jewish Social Service Department Vocational Guidance Services for the Older Adult Contact: Nat Greenwood, ACSW Director of Social Services Charlotte Jewish Federation 375-7738 375-7739 By Janet Mendelsohn Moshe (Copyright 1983,) (Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.) Editors Note: Jerusalem journalist Janet Mendelsohn Moshe came to Israel in 1979 from North Carolina. This feature was provided ex clusively to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency by the World Zionist Organization Department of Information- Press Section.) From ancient times the settlement of Hanita has guarded the passes from the mountains of Lebanon to the fertile vaUey below. Rebuilt in the western Galilee in 1938 on a hilly ridge bordering Leba non, the kibbutz is now cele brating its 45th anniversary. And as (me of more than 100 stockade and watchtower settlements hastily erected in pre-State Israel between 1939 and 1947, Hanita is represen tative of the defense settle ment which in the course of time was to play a vital role in determining the borders of the State of Israel. Just as 11 settlements established overnight in the Negev in October 1946 tilted the scales in the United Na tions decision to include th^ Negev in the Jewish State, so the stockade and watchtower pioneers were to make an im- forgettable contribution to the ultimate shape of Israel. Several factors led to the decision to settle outlying areas in Palestine intensively in the late 1930’s. The Arab uprising from 1936-39 which led to the loss of 600 Jewish lives (out of a population of less than half a million), was characterized by attacks on isolated Jewish settlements. The British Peel (Commission suggested in 1937 a partition of Palestine, emphasizing in the eyes of the Jewish Agen cy the vital importance of widespread settlement. Nazi oppression also impelled thousands of European Jews to seek refuge in Palestine, in cluding many who wanted to settle on the land. Economic viability was not so important in the choice of new locations. Large tracts of land were purchased by the Jewish National Fund far from population centers. Top priority went to the upper and western Galilee, and the Jor dan and Beith Shean valleys. It was in the latter that lUb- butz Nir David (Tel Amal) was established as the first of these settlements in 1936. By World War II, another 50 had been founded. A typical settlement was 35 by 35 meters in size, and sur rounded by a wall made of wooden panels with gravel sandwiched in between to help render them bullet-proof. Pre fabricated huts served as liv ing quarters and a dining area, and a watchtower in the center of the enclosure had a large searchlight powered by a generator to search for in- ffltrators and signal for help if necessary. At dawn of an appointed day, a convey with tens of lor ries took to the roads loaded with everything needed to set up the outpost, and an empty patch of land had become a solid encampment by night fall. Nei^boring settlers join ed in to help ^sh the first stage of the work at top speed. The young men and women of the Hagana who settled and defended these areas knew that this was no picnic. Two out of the 91 settlers fell on the night Hanita was established and it had to repel incessant attacks, the death toll rising to 10 in the initial period. This was the first village to be built on Jewish National Fund land in the western part of Upper Galilee, with the intention of protect ing the northern border. Today its population of 700 adults is made up of one third veteran settlers as well as members from 27 countries, includin^^ many youth aliya graduates of Oriental back ground. Its sources of liveli hood include a metal tool fac tory, orchards, poultry and field crops. A 19-year-old new immi grant, Ephraim Shilo, was one of the Hagana recruits who took part in the settling of the stockade and watchtower kib butz of Tirat Zvi in 1937. Reflecting back on the dif ficult beginning of this Beit Shean valley kibbutz, he says that the overall plan of placing settlements in four comers of the map (Hanita in the western Galilee, Daphna in the upper Galilee, Tirat Zvi, southeast in the Beit Shean valley, and later, settlements in the Negev) proved to be one of the most important strate gic measures of the early “yishuv” (Jewish population). But it was no easy task for the first 50 settlers of Tirat Zvi to eke out a living. Older Adult Luncheon The January Older Adult Luncheon will be held Thurs day, January 12 at 11:30 am with Charlotte B’nai B’rith Women as the host organization. All community senior adults are welcome to the lunch and entertainment pro gram at a cost of $1 per person. The special program dur ing the luncheon is a travelogue on Israel. Transportation to Temple Beth El will be provided for those needing it. You are asked to R.S.V.P. by Friday, January 6 by calling the JCC at 366-0357. At this time please indicate if you will need transportation or if you can assist by providing a ride for scnneone else. If you have specific dietary restrictions for health reasons let us know when you call. Substitute Chat Drivers 'The JCC is looking for individuals who would like to volunteer to transport Chai members on occasional Mon days and to special events. Please call Abby at the JCC, 366-0357 if you’d like to help.
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