Labels:text | human face | man | person OCR: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Ben Gurion, David David Ben Gurion A politician who played a key role in shaping modern Israel, Ben Gurion achieved prominence in the 1920s as leader of the socialist labor organization Histradut. In 1930 he became leader of Israel's new Labor party, Mapai - a position he held for 35 years. Nazi persecution in the 1930s strengthened his conviction that Jewish refugees needed the protection of a separate Jewish state. He opposed the British government - entrusted by a League of Nations mandate in 1922 to administer Palestine - when their 1939 White Paper policy limited immigration. He described his strategy as "fighting Hitler as if there was no White Paper and fighting the White Paper as if there was no war against Hitler." In 1948 Ben Gurion became Israel's first David Ben Gurion, prime minister and minister of defense. In Israeli politician, 1886-1973 1956 he directed the Sinai-Suez War, which confirmed Israel's position as the strongest military power in the Middle East. No expansionist, he advocated withdrawal from all Israeli-conquered territory except Jerusalem. CHRONOLOGY
