Language:
English
Year of publication:
2021
Titel der Quelle:
Journal of Modern Jewish Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
20,3 (2021) 301-314
Keywords:
Ben-Gurion, David, Philosophy
;
Ben-Gurion, David, Political and social views
;
Israel and the diaspora 20th century
;
Israel and the diaspora Philosophy
;
Jews Attitudes toward Israel 20th century
Abstract:
On 23 August 1950, Israel’s Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Jacob Blaustein, President of the American Jewish Committee, expressed their mutual understanding about the relationship of Israel to Jews in the United States and other free countries. Ben-Gurion’s declaration in the exchange that Jews of the United States owe no political allegiance to Israel was naturally seen as a compromise made for pragmatic reasons by the Prime Minister, known for his belief in aliyah, the ascent of world Jewry to Israel. Observing the exchange from a seventy-year perspective, however, I suggest that Ben-Gurion’s statements were rather consistent with a unique conceptual framework he used as a means for the sovereign state of Israel to gain the support of Jews living in other sovereign states, while reducing the danger that they be accused of dual loyalty. I describe that conceptual framework, which stresses the universal messianic mission of the Jewish state, and raise some thoughts on the implications of its abandonment in Israel in later years.
DOI:
10.1080/14725886.2020.1815952
URL:
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