2018/01/02 by Avi Picard · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies #Middle East Politics and Society #Diaspora #Immigration #Judaism #Mass migration #Emigration #Jewish state #Anti-Zionism #Zionism #State (computer science) #Independence (probability theory) #Political science #Victory #Sociology #Law #History #Politics #Jewish studies
paper · doi:10.1080/00263206.2017.1414698
openalex publication_date 2018/01/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
In mainstream scholarship, David Ben-Gurion is described as one of the main supporters and primary advocates of the policy of encouraging mass Jewish immigration to Israel (aliya) in the 1950s. The Zionist movement had two different motives for supporting aliya: Diaspora Jews’ need for a safe haven (which would require mass aliya), and the need to build a solid and stable Jewish society in mandatory Palestine/Israel (which would require selective aliya).When Ben-Gurion, in the 1940s, came to favour mass aliya, he did so because of the immigrants’ potential contribution to the attainment of statehood and then the independent state.In the first years after independence, when entire communities immigrated to Israel, they included old and infirm people who did not fit the image of the pioneers of pre-state aliya. Nevertheless, for Ben-Gurion, their demographic contribution outweighed the burden of their absorption. By 1952, he had changed his mind and became one of the strongest supporters of selective immigration. He continued to support selectivity even when, in 1955, the safety of Moroccan Jews and their freedom to emigrate was in jeopardy. Ben-Gurion's attitude to aliya from Morocco, in the shadow of the Czech-Egyptian arms deal, reflected his priority – a strong and secure Israel.