“Today in Israel we are faced with the phenomena of political, economic, and personal corruption which in my grandfather’s generation were rare,” says Yaariv Ben-Eliezer, the 32-year-old eldest grandson of David Ben-Gurion, who is now studying for his master’s degree in the field of mass communication at Queens College where he also teaches.
“Ben-Gurion’s generation related its actions to social and cultural values, and was imbued with an ideology, while my generation lacks a sense of social responsibility in its race for power and domination. They have turned their backs on tradition, Judaism and Socialism; values they pretend to represent.”
Ben Eliezer is married to an Israeli, and is the father of two sons. “When my second child was born, here in New York, I received a letter from my grandfather congratulating me, but hoping that my wife and I would bless him with two great grand-daughters in the near future. My grandfather feels that every Israeli should have at least four children.”
Concerning the Middle East conflict, the bearded grandson of the first Prime Minister of Israel claims: “I would like to see Israel remain within the context of its present boundaries, but I am a realist and I understand that for the sake of a real peace we must return a portion of the territories that Israel occupied in the last war. I don’t believe in formulas. If you want peace you have to sit around the table and talk. I also don’t believe in preconditions to start these talks. I am convinced that once peace talks begin many things that now seem to have priority will shape out differently. But as long as the present situation continues, Israel shouldn’t give up any geographical advantages that are so important to her security and existence.”
According to Ben-Eliezer, who corresponds regularly with his grandfather and who, while in Israel, had long conversations with him, Ben-Gurion believes that as long as peace is out of reach there is a national obligation to settle the occupied areas and to establish Israeli settlements there.
Ben-Eliezer, who is the secretary of the Israeli Student Organization in the United States and Canada, says that he doesn’t Intend to engage in politics upon returning to Israel. “I had a short experience in politics,” he says, “and I didn’t care for it. I don’t like the moral attitude that is present in Israeli politics.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
