Ben-Gurion on Gaza: Sinai Campaign Documents Revealed in IDF Archive

In depth

To mark 70 years since the Sinai Campaign, in which Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, documents from the IDF Archive were revealed recording the positions of then-prime minister David Ben-Gurion regarding the Gaza Strip. The documents include more than 4,500 items, some of which have never been published.

Ben-Gurion warned of the security and moral cost of controlling the Strip, and of the possibility that it would become a burden Israel could not bear. According to him, if Israel were shunned by the world, it would face a real danger. He said: "Had I believed in miracles, I would have wished that Gaza would be swallowed by the sea."

Ben-Gurion also warned that in the next war Tel Aviv and Haifa would be bombed, and that women and children would be killed. The material is being published as part of a new IDF Archive website.