David Ben-Gurion Signed Photograph.

BEN-GURION, David.

Item Number: 52085

Black and white photograph of David Ben-Gurion seated with a book on his lap. Signed and dated in Hebrew “David Ben-Gurion 14.5.71.” The verso bears a “State of Israel, Government Press Office” stamp. The photograph measures 6 inches by 8 inches. Double matted and framed. The entire piece measures 14 inches by 16 inches.

David Ben-Gurion was the primary founder of the State of Israel and the first Prime Minister of Israel. Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946. As head of the Jewish Agency from 1935, and later president of the Jewish Agency Executive, he was the de facto leader of the Jewish community in Palestine, and largely led its struggle for an independent Jewish state in Mandatory Palestine. On 14 May 1948, he formally proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel, and was the first to sign the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which he had helped to write. Ben-Gurion led Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and united the various Jewish militias into the Israel Defense Forces. Subsequently, he became known as "Israel's founding father."