David Ben‐Gurion and the bi‐national idea in Palestine

Abstract

In view of the centenary of the birth of David Ben-Gurion, chief architect of the State of Israel and its first prime minister, it is fitting to consider one of his most interesting political plans which he proposed in 1929. This was the year when the violent Arab rioting that encompassed the whole of Palestine erupted. A consequence of this was widespread political activity. The Shaw Commission, the Hope-Simpson Commission, and the Passfield White Paper brought relations between Britain and the Zionist movement to an unexpected and unforeseen low point. Against this background Ben-Gurion presented his political plan for a solution to the Arab-Jewish conflict, a plan totally opposed to his previous political outlook as well as to that of later years. His plan was also completely at odds with the position of his party, and of his closest comrades: it sought to convert Palestine into a bi-national state. It is not surprising, therefore, that the plan was rejected out of hand by the party. The bi-national idea was supported only by marginal political groups in the Zionist movement and in the yishuv, namely the Brith-Shalom Society and the Kibbutz movement of Hashomer Hatza'ir, Hakibbutz Ha'artzi. David Ben-Gurion first put forward his plan on 9 November 1929. That day he delivered a lecture to a small, specially invited audience composed of members of the two parties, Ahdut Ha'avoda and Hapo'el Hatza'is, which were on the point of amalgamating to form Mapai and of individuals who did not belong to those parties. Judah Leib Magnes, the President of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a well-known pacifist, was among those present. Ahdut Ha'avoda, to which Ben-Gurion belonged before the amalgamation, forbade him at that time to make his plan public and clarifications on it were conducted within the forum of the party centre. Only a year later was he permitted to publish the plan, which he did first in the Hapo'el Hatsa'ir newspaper and later in a collection entitled Anahnu ve-shkhenenu (We and Our Neighbours). Ben-Gurion summarized in his diary his impressions following the speech on 9 November: 'Tel Aviv, 9.11.29. At ten I lectured on the plan of government for the country. There was no debate. From the views of comrades I heard, for the moment at least, the opposition of Moshe [Shertok Sharett Y.G.]. Remez wants this question to be discussed for five years. Berl [Katznelson Y.G.] inclines towards my proposal. Beilinson is 'studying' As for Arlozorov, I was told that he opposes it.