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Ben-Gurion Saw Negev as Answer to Rising Antisemitism
Newly revealed letters from David Ben-Gurion to Louis Brandeis in 1934 and 1935 show Ben-Gurion's concerns about rising European antisemitism and his proposed solution: developing the Negev. He argued for building infrastructure to absorb 50,000 Jews annually and later identified the Negev as key to absorbing millions.
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What happened
- 01David Ben-Gurion saw the Negev as a solution to rising antisemitism and Jewish distress in 1934-1935.
- 02Ben-Gurion warned of spreading Nazi propaganda against Jews in England and France in 1934.
- 03He believed the Land of Israel could absorb 50,000 Jews annually if infrastructure was built.
- 04By 1935, Ben-Gurion identified land scarcity as the main problem for absorbing future immigrants.
- 05He proposed developing the Negev's empty lands to significantly increase the region's absorption capacity.
The documents' relevance to today's reality was highlighted by Itzhak Donitz, CEO of the Ben-Gurion Heritage Institute.
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