BGU & YOU

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A few years ago, it was decided that these priceless documents should be brought together in a new accessible facility devoted to Ben-Gurion, and Israel's first American-style presidential library came into being. BGU’s generous friends and supporters, Canadians Cyndi and Max Mintzberg, made this vision a reality by supporting and being closely involved in the construction of the new Cyndi and Max Mintzberg Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism Building and the Ben-Gurion Archives. Today, the Ben-Gurion Archives are home to Ben Gurion's handwritten diaries, correspondence, articles about him, taped interviews, meeting protocols, and other materials previously stored elsewhere.

what were then esoteric subjects such as yoga and artificial intelligence; and commentaries on Jewish-Arab relations and the relationship between the Jewish world and the State of Israel. The Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism, including the Azrieli Center for Israel Studies, moved into the new building at the same time, making it home to the highest concentration of Israel studies scholars worldwide. Improving accessibility to the public, the building includes a 280-square-meter state-of-the art visitors center, managed in collaboration with the Ben-Gurion Heritage Institute. The Archives are an opportunity to uncover once-hidden gems of the life and legacy of Ben-Gurion. We invite you to visit!

The materials span the time period from the beginning of the 20th century until 1973. For example, there is a letter that Ben-Gurion's father, Avigdor Green, sent to Theodor Herzl in 1901 recommending his teenage son for the Zionist enterprise. At the other end is a letter signed by Ben-Gurion in September 1973 – approximately two months before his death – thanking a family for books chronicling the Jewish community of Korelitz. The Archives contain a list Ben Gurion wrote of what would need to be done if the state was declared after the UN vote on the partition plan on November 26, 1947; the diary entry from the day he formally announced the state; correspondence from momentous times in the nation’s history – during the War of Independence, the great Aliyah and negotiations over reparations; writings about