The Ben-Gurion House is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, which served as the family home of pre-State

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

leader and then first

Defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the name ...

, between 1931 and 1953. Until his death in 1973 it continued serving as an additional residence, along with two others, one private – " Ben-Gurion's hut" at

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Sde Boker Sde Boker ( he, שְׂדֵה בּוֹקֵר, lit. ''Herding Field'') is a kibbutz in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Best known as the retirement home of Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ramat ...

in the

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...

(known as his desert home), and the official residence as

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exec ...

during his multiple terms as head of government. The latter, known as

Julius Jacobs House The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the c ...

, is located in

Rehavia Rehavia or Rechavia ( he, רחביה, ar, رحافيا) is an upscale Jerusalem neighborhood located between the city center and Talbiya. Since its establishment in the 1920s, the area has always been associated with German-Jewish culture and tra ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Ben-Gurion House is located at 17, Ben-Gurion Boulevard in northern Tel Aviv.

History and structure

The house was built in 1930–1931, and

and his family lived there from June 1931 until 1953, when they moved to a small wooden house in Kibbutz Sde-Boker in the Negev desert, after which they returned to the Tel Aviv house only part of each year. The house was built on

Jewish National Fund Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...

(JNF) land,Ben-Gurion House (museum website

retrieved 14 December 2017 when the first ''shechunat ha-po'alim'' (''lit.'' workers neighborhood, i.e. a Public housing, workers housing project) was established there in 1930–31, as Shechunat HaPo'alim

Aleph Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic , Syriac , Arabic ʾ and North Arabian 𐪑. It also appears as South Arabian 𐩱 and Ge'ez . These letter ...

, at the junction of Jewish National Fund Boulevard and Lassalle Street.Danny Recht, ''The United Workers' Neighborhood A and B'' (in Hebrew, ''('שכונת פועלים מאוחדת (א' ב' ו''), on "Tel Aviv 100" websit

; retrieved 14 December 2017 The Jewish National Fund (Hebrew: Keren Kayemet Le'Israel) Boulevard was renamed to Ben-Gurion Boulevard after the politician's death in 1973. The house was designed by engineer David Tuvia, and as customary in "workers neighborhoods" in Israel at the time, the house included only one room and was worth 350 British Mandate pounds. The Ben-Gurion family asked for permission to build a second floor, which was granted. The house was expanded in 1946, and renovated in 1960.

First floor

The first floor included the room of Ben-Gurion's second daughter, Renana. It also served Ben-Gurion during the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

(''Mivtza' Kadesh'', "Operation Kadesh") as a

shelter Shelter is a small building giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger. Shelter may also refer to: Places * Port Shelter, Hong Kong * Shelter Bay (disambiguation), various locations * Shelter Cove (disambiguation), various locatio ...

and a bedroom. From this room Ben-Gurion conducted his communication with

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) du ...

, then his

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

, and from there he received front line updates on the progress of the operation.

Second floor

The second floor houses a four-room library, a toilet and a bedroom, and served only Ben-Gurion himself at the time. The library holds his personal collection of periodicals and 20,000 books, in ancient Greek, Latin, English, Hebrew, French, Turkish, German, Russian and other languages. The library, known for its unusual size, may give an idea as to Ben-Gurion's fields of interest. The books deal mainly with the subjects of

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...

, history, various cultures and religions, a collections of

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

books and more. The many books on

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

's fallen soldiers show the importance given to this subject by Ben-Gurion. One of the library rooms served as Ben-Gurion's study room, where he had his own study corner, in which he wrote in his diary. It also contained a special phone, that was a direct line to the

Defense Ministry {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

's office (compare the Red Phone). On 13 May 1948, Ben-Gurion hosted the Minhelet ha'am (''People's Administration'') body:

Aharon Zisling Aharon Zisling ( he, אהרון ציזלינג, 26 February 1901 – 16 January 1964) was an Israeli politician and minister and a signatory of Israel's declaration of independence. Biography Born in Minsk in the Russian Empire (now in Belarus ...

Yehuda Leib Maimon Yehuda Leib Maimon ( he, יהודה לייב מימון, 11 December 1875 – 10 July 1962, also known as Yehuda Leib HaCohen Maimon) was an Israeli rabbi, politician and leader of the Religious Zionist movement. He was Israel's first Minist ...

, and

Moshe Sharett Moshe Sharett ( he, משה שרת, born Moshe Chertok (Hebrew: )‎ 15 October 1894 – 7 July 1965) was a Russian-born Israeli politician who served as Israel's second prime minister from 1954 to 1955. A member of Mapai, Sharett's term was b ...

, where they formulated and drafted the final version of the

Israeli Declaration of Independence The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel ( he, הכרזה על הקמת מדינת ישראל), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 ( 5 Iyar 5708) by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive ...

(''Megilat HaAtzma'ut''). The next day, they went from this house to Dizengoff House, now known as ''Independence Hall'', and where the

Tel Aviv Museum of Art Tel Aviv Museum of Art ( he, מוזיאון תל אביב לאמנות ''Muzeon Tel Aviv Leomanut'') is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. The museum is dedicated to the preservation and display of modern and contemporary art from Israel and aroun ...

was located at the time, where Ben-Gurion announced on the establishment of the

State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

The house nowadays

In his will Ben-Gurion requested to bequest the house to the State of Israel, as is stated: Three years after Ben-Gurion died, the ''Ben-Gurion law 1977'' was enacted, which stipulates that the house will be open to the public, and will serve as a museum in memory of Ben-Gurion and as a commemoration of his legacy, as well ''"as a Reading, Reviewing and Research center"'', as Ben-Gurion himself requested. The house was opened to the public on 29 November 1974, and as of today, guided tours and symposiums are conducted in the house, with the purpose of depicting Ben-Gurion's character and life work as a leader. In addition, memorabilia, historical documents, and Ben-Gurion's titles awarded to him when he was prime minister are exhibited in the house. The Boulevard in which the house is situated, was called at the time Ben-Gurion lived there, ''Keren Kayemet Boulevard'' ("Jewish National Fund Boulevard"), and was renamed ''Ben-Gurion Boulevard'' after Ben-Gurion died. The name ''Keren Kayemet Boulevard'' was then moved to a central street within a northern Tel Aviv neighborhood, ''Ever Ha-Yarkon'' suburb, and is still named after the JNF today.

External links

Ben-Gurion house
official website

Notes