A partial Jewish State is not the end, but only the beginning. ... I am certain that we will not be prevented from settling in the other parts of the country, either by mutual agreements with our Arab neighbors or by some other means. . . [If the Arabs refuse] we shall have to speak to them in a different language. But we shall only have another language if we have a state.

David Ben-Gurion

I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?

David Ben-Gurion

israel taken country

The State of Israel will prove itself not by material wealth, not by military might or technical achievement, but by its moral character and human values.

David Ben-Gurion

israel military character

The present map of Palestine was drawn by the British mandate. The Jewish people have another map which our youth and adults should strive to fulfill: from the Nile to the Euphrates.

David Ben-Gurion

adults scary people

Let me first tell you one thing: It doesn't matter what the world says about Israel; it doesn't matter what they say about us anywhere else. The only thing that matters is that we can exist here on the land of our forefathers. And unless we show the Arabs that there is a high price to pay for murdering Jews, we won't survive.

David Ben-Gurion

israel land world

In order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.

David Ben-Gurion

inspirational funny believe

Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves ... politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves... The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country.

David Ben-Gurion

views want country

It is in the Negev that the creativity and pioneer vigor of Israel shall be tested.

David Ben-Gurion

pioneers creativity israel

We must do everything to ensure they [the Palestinians] never do return. The old will die and the young will forget,

David Ben-Gurion

return scary forget

It's not enough to be up to date, you have to be up to tomorrow.

David Ben-Gurion

up-to-date tomorrow enough

Since I invoke Torah so often, let me state that I don't personally believe in the God it postulates ... I am not religious, nor were the majority of the early builders of Israel believers. Yet their passion for this land stemmed from the Book of Books ... [The Bible is] the single most important book in my life.

David Ben-Gurion

religious believe book

Why should the Arabs make peace? If I was an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. Sure God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them? Our God is not theirs.

David Ben-Gurion

israel taken country

The Arabs will have to go, but one needs an opportune moment for making it happen, such as a war.

David Ben-Gurion

israel war needs

No city in the world, not even Athens or Rome, ever played as great a role in the life of a nation for so long a time, as Jerusalem has done in the life of the Jewish people.

David Ben-Gurion

rome israel cities

We regard it as our duty to declare that Jewish Jerusalem is an organic and inseparable part of the State of Israel, as it is an inseparable part of the history of Israel, of the faith of Israel.

David Ben-Gurion

jerusalem states israel

A Christian state should be established [in Lebanon], with its southern border on the Litani river. We will make an alliance with it. When we smash the Arab Legion's strength and bomb Amman, we will eliminate Transjordan too, and then Syria will fall. If Egypt still dares to fight on, we shall bomb Port Said, Alexandria and Cairo.

David Ben-Gurion

fashion christian war

Israel's economic and cultural progress is due to three things: the pioneering spirit that inspires the best of our immigrant and Israeli youth, who respond to the challenge of our desolute areas and the ingathering of the exiles; the feeling of Diaspora Jewry that they are partners in the enterprise of Israel's resurgence in the ancient homeland of the Jewish people; and the power of science, and technology which Israel unceasingly, and not without success, tries to enhance.

David Ben-Gurion

technology israel people

Referring to Palestinian refugees: "We must do everything in our power to ensure that they never return.

David Ben-Gurion

palestinian-refugees referring return

If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert.

David Ben-Gurion

done ifs experts

Suffering makes a people greater, and we have suffered much. We had a message to give the world, but we were overwhelmed, and the message was cut off in the middle. In time there will be millions of us - becoming stronger and stronger - and we will complete the message.

David Ben-Gurion

cutting giving people

A Jew is anyone who says he is.

David Ben-Gurion

jew