Placing his statement in context

Submitted by Robert F. (United States), Apr 18, 2020 at 21:41

Ben Gurion was obviously responding to a question or assertion that the Arabs could realistically make peace with Israel. The motivation behind Ben Gurion's response was to show that Israel must maintain a strong army and can never count on the Arabs seeking peace. He was proved correct over and over. But his words were poorly chosen and inaccurate. He should have said that Arab extremism following the Grand Mufti's alliance with Hitler will prevent the Arabs from ever allowing Jews to govern on land that was, at one time, conquered and colonized by Arabs. But Ben Gurion should not have legitimized their hatred by trying to explain something irrational, and simultaneously delegitimize Israel's existence. He didn't mean to, but the words he used to make his point were poorly chosen.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".