David Ben-Gurion Signed Photograph.

BEN-GURION, David.

$8,800.00

Item Number: 133617

Large original silver gelatin photograph of the Founding Father of Israel David Ben-Gurion, boldly signed by him. Ben–Gurion‘s signature measures 5.25 inches by 1.25 inches. x 1.25″ alone. Also signed and dated “Charles Bergman May 1947”  who was possibly the photographer. The photograph was taken in May 1947, one year before Ben–Gurion declared the formation of the modern state of Israel on May 14, 1948. The British had controlled Mandatory Palestine since 1920, but in May 1947, they asked for international guidance in resolving the complicated question of possession and ownership. The British submitted the Palestine question to the United Nations. The results of the 11-nation investigative committee informed the British announcement in September 1947 of their intention to liquidate Mandatory Palestine in May 1948. The photograph measures 13.5 inches by 10.5 inches. Double matted and framed. The entire piece measures 21.5 inches by 20 inches. This is the largest signed photograph of Ben-Gurion we have encountered.

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."