THE PLOT

On December 7, 1953, Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, resigned. No one is quite sure why: probably a mixture of burnout, frustration, and boredom. He decided to retire out in the middle of the desert, at a kibbutz called Sde Boker. This act, he believed, would inspire Israelis to renew their efforts at developing the Negev, making the desert bloom. The few residents, mostly young, had to decide whether or not to accept the 67 year-old leader. Israel’s Foreign Minister, Moshe Sharett, took over the top spot.

In 1952 in Egypt, a group of nationalist army officers led a coup, overthrew the king, and installed themselves as leaders. The main guy was Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser. He began his efforts by calling for a new, hyperactive Arab nationalism, and he turbo-charged that movement by setting his sights on claiming a strategic piece of real estate: the Suez Canal, one of the world’s most important waterways.

The Suez Canal, though in Egyptian territory, was controlled by the British military. Israel feared that if Nasser took control of the canal, he would cut off Israeli shipping. This was in addition to Egypt using the Sinai Peninsula as a staging ground to launch terrorist attacks against Israel.

Israeli intelligence hatched a plot to make Nasser look bad by staging a series of bombings in Cairo, blaming Nasser, and thus convincing the British not to leave the Canal to such an unstable leader. The plan backfired. The IDF blamed Defense Minister Pinchas Lavon; he in turn blamed the military leadership. Politics pushed Sharett to fire Lavon. But the Lavon Affair, as it was called, roiled Israeli politics for another decade. 

The Lavon Affair, and the trial of Rudolf Kastner, wounded the left-wing Mapai Party. The right-wing opposition called a vote of no-confidence and Sharett’s government fell. Mapai needed a new Prime Minister. In November 1955, Ben Gurion was right back at the head of the government. 

THE PEOPLE

David Ben Gurion: Israel’s first Prime Minister. He abruptly resigned in 1953 to retire out in the Negev Desert. But events brought him back to the PM’s office in 1955.

Pinchas Lavon: Minister of Defense in the mid-1950s, blamed for the disastrous operation against Egypt even though he likely didn’t know about it. His name became synonymous with political scandal, and was fired by Prime Minister Sharett.

Gamal Abdel Nasser: Egyptian military officer who led a coup in 1952, and soon became president of the newly-created Arab Republic of Egypt. He was a leader of the pan-Arab nationalist movement in the Middle East, and became one of Israel’s main enemies in the region.

Moshe Sharret: Israeli politician and signer of the Declaration of Independence, who became the second Prime Minister after Ben Gurion’s retirement. 

THE BIG IDEAS

Ben Gurion considered the Negev Desert essential to Israel’s future. His slogan was, “Make the desert bloom.” The building of towns and industry, stocked with pioneers from the cities, was intended as a return to the roots of Zionism. His physical presence and example, he believed, would provide the tipping point for a mass movement of Israelis into the Negev to fulfill the Zionist vision of space and settlement.

President Nasser of Egypt emphasized pan-Arabism — the nationalist idea of a unified Arab Middle East. At the same time Egypt drew significant attention from both the Soviets and Americans. America believed that Arab nationalism would keep out the communists. But Nasser played both sides, eventually siding with the Soviet Union against Western interests.

The Lavon Affair dominated Israeli politics from the mid-fifties through the sixties. It pitted “old guard” politicians against a newer generation that was rising through the ranks of the left-wing Mapai Party. The Affair became an obsession with Ben Gurion, which hurt him politically for years.

FUN FACTS

David Ben Gurion was accepted to live at Kibbutz Sde Boker by a vote of the residents — he won with a majority of just one vote. 

The Negev Desert covers 55% of Israel’s territory but has only 5% of its population.

The Hebrew word for desert, midbar, is better translated as “wilderness.”

© Jason Harris 2020