| ID | 177701 |
| Title Proper | Jewish past and the ‘birth’ of the Israeli nation state |
| Other Title Information | the case of Ben-Gurion’s Independence Day speeches |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Sherzer, Adi |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | The article focuses on David Ben-Gurion’s past image using a series of programmatic and widely distributed speeches he made during Israel’s first Independence Days (1948-1958). The article argues that while the founding of the state was defined as a turning point it was certainly not portrayed as a ‘beginning’, and that both the ancient sovereign and the exilic Jewish experience had a central place in Ben-Gurion’s relevant past. At the centre of discussion stand five main characteristics of the speeches: the continuation between the state and the Jewish ancient past; the central place of a secularized messianism as a bridge between the exilic past and the sovereign present; the attempt to portray a widely accepted shared past using consensus-based terminology; the simplification of the Zionist rebellion against the exile; and the fundamental differentiation between the Jewish symbolic past and the realistic Israeli present. These five elements are analysed against the background of other texts by Ben-Gurion and his image in the research. Finally, this case study is placed within a wider context which demonstrates the Israeli quest for a Jewish framework of meaning that would authenticate the new national myths and charge them with meaning. |
| `In' analytical Note | Middle Eastern Studies Vol. 57, No.2; Mar 2021: p.310-326 |
| Key Words | Independence day ; Exile ; Messianism ; David Ben-Gurionre ; Levant Past ; State of the Nation Speech |