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David Ben-Gurion

2021
Kramer, Martin. “The Tel Hai Paradox.” Mosaic Magazine, 2021, August 23. Web originalAbstract
In the history of Israel, only the political heirs of Ze’ev Jabotinsky have dismantled Jewish settlements. This paradox is traced back to Jabotinsky’s debate with David Ben-Gurion over Tel Hai in 1920.
The Tel Hai Paradox (pdf)
2020
Kramer, Martin. “The Parallel Lives of David Ben-Gurion and Abdullah bin Hussein.” Mosaic Magazine, 2020, November 17. Web originalAbstract
Born within four years of each other, David Ben-Gurion and Abdullah bin Hussein emerged out of the same political womb to forge Israel and Jordan in battle. An examination of the parallels in their lives.
The Parallel Lives of David Ben-Gurion and Abdullah bin Hussein (pdf)
Kramer, Martin. “Ben-Gurion's Army: How the IDF Came into Being (and Almost Didn't).” Mosaic Magazine, 2020, February 3. Web originalAbstract
On the eve of Israel's statehood in 1948, with the massed forces of five Arab nations threatening invasion, David Ben-Gurion picked a fight with his own army. 
Ben-Gurion's Army: How the IDF Came into Being (and Almost Didn't) (pdf) Ben-Gurion at the Moment of Crisis (pdf)
The two parts of this essay were published in February 2020. Visit the website of Mosaic Magazine for the responses by Benny Morris, Eliot A. Cohen, and Efraim Inbar.
2018
Kramer, Martin. “How True is 'The Crown' on the Suez Cover-Up?” Mosaic Magazine, 2018, March 1. Web originalAbstract
The Netflix series The Crown includes a scene depicting British prime minister Anthony Eden nearly misleading Queen Elizabeth about the role of Israel in the 1956 Suez "collusion." The author considers whether the depiction is accurate.
How True is "The Crown" on the Suez Cover-Up? (pdf)
Kramer, Martin. “The May 1948 Vote That Made the State of Israel.” Mosaic Magazine, 2018, April 2. Web originalAbstract
An analysis of the proceedings of the People's Administration, culminating in a decisive vote not to specify Israel's borders in its declaration of independence of May 14, 1948.
The May 1948 Vote That Made the State of Israel (pdf) Israel's Situation Today Looks Much as Ben-Gurion Envisioned It (pdf)

The two parts of this essay were published in April 2018. Visit the website of Mosaic Magazine for the responses by Benny Morris, Efraim Karsh, and Avi Shilon.

2016
Kramer, Martin. “Shabtai Teveth and the Whole Truth.” In The War on Error: Israel, Islam, and the Middle East, 219-24. New Brunswick, NJ and London: Transaction Publishers, 2016.Abstract

The author recalls his long friendship with the late Shabtai Teveth, renowned journalist and the biographer of David Ben-Gurion. Teveth, largely unknown to younger readers, may have been the first to challenge the excesses of the “new historians," and his work deserves to be rediscovered.

 

Shabtai Teveth and the Whole Truth (pdf)
Originated in a 2015 post at the Commentary blog.