Representative Press Blog

supporting the Peel partitian, David Ben-Gurion said "The acceptance of partition does not commit us to renounce Transjordan; one does not demand from anybody to give up his vision. We shall accept a state in the boundaries fixed today. But the boundaries of Zionist aspirations are the concern of the Jewish people and no external factor will be able to limit them."Ê
It should be noted that Ben-Gurion's "boundaries of Zionist aspirations" in his vision are very broad, including southrn Lebanon, southern Syria, today's Jordan, all of cis-Jordan, and the Sinai.

Even after the state of Israel was unilaterally declared, Menachem Begin declared that "
: 'The partition of the Homeland is illegal. It will never be recognized. The signature of institutions and individuals of the partition agreement is invalid. It will not bind the Jewish people. Jerusalem was and will forever be our capital. Eretz Israel (the land of Israel) will be restored to the people of Israel, All of it. And forever."
Noam Chomsky (The Fateful Triangle, 182) and Fred Khouri (The Arab Israeli Dilemma, 83-84, 187) shed further light on Ben Gurion's true colors (Ben Gurion was Israel's Prime Minister from 1948-1953, and from 1955- 1963). Chomsky quotes from Ben Gurion's diary entry for January 1, 1948:"There is no question as to whether a reaction is necessary or not. The question is only time and place. Blowing up a house is not enough. What is necessary is cruel and strong reactions. We need precision in time, place, and casualties. If we know the family - [we must] strike mercilessly. women and children included (sic). Otherwise the reaction is inefficient. At the place of action there is no need to distinguish between guilty and innocent. Where there was no attack - we should not strike."
(the latter qualification was not observed)

Khouri (83-84) cites an interview Ben Gurion gave TIME Magazine, August 16, 1948. On that
occasion he said, "I can quite imagine a Jewish state of ten million." When asked if this could be possible within the territory allotted under the UN Partition Plan Ben Gurion replied, "I doubt it...We would not have taken on this war merely for the purpose of enjoying this tiny state."