Quotation from David Ben Gurion “If I were an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel” — 1956

Conversation with Nahum Goldmann.

Author : Thematics :
" 'I don't understand your optimism,' Ben-Gurion declared. 'Why should the Arabs make peace? If I were an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: THEY THINK we have taken their country. Sure, God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them? Our God is not theirs. We come from Israel, it's true, but two thousand years ago, and what is that to them? There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that? They may perhaps forget in one or two generations' time, but for the moment there is no chance. So it's simple: we have to stay strong and maintain a powerful army. Our whole policy is there. Otherwise the Arabs will wipe us out.' "

David Ben Guurion (Prime Minister of Israel). In: Nahum Goldmann, Le paradoxe juif , p 121. Complete quote in: John Marsheimer and Stephen Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2008, p. 96.

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