Daily Briefing May 1: Day 573 – Ben-Gurion’s anguish upon the founding of Israel

Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today’s episode on Israel’s Independence Day.

Today, we will step back in time and attempt to get into prime minister David Ben-Gurion’s state of mind as the Jewish state is declared in 1948. We speak about the divided nation — even as it was fighting for its very survival against enemies on all fronts.

To understand how Ben-Gurion was thinking on that fateful May 14, 1948, we turn to two recently released images of his handwritten diary, which reveal the first prime minister’s anxieties as the newborn country headed to war against invading Arab neighbors.

We then discuss how a mere few weeks after the Declaration of Independence, one of the most painful episodes in Israeli history occurred — the Altalena Affair. Rettig Gur explains this social turning point.

Finally, Rettig Gur expounds on the current Israeli moment and compares it to the prescient anxiety felt by Ben-Gurion and the profound test of leadership he faced so soon after the founding of the state.

The conversation can also be viewed here:

Check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Ben-Gurion diary entries on day of independence revealed: ‘I mourn among the joyful’

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves and video edited by Thomas Girsch.

Check out yesterday’s Daily Briefing episode here: