Final_Judgment

719 Final Word?
In the opening pages of his book, Cohen writes at length about Ben-Gurion's
special interest in the construction of an Israeli nuclear bomb and the reasoning
behind it.
What follows are relevant quotations from pages 10 through 14 in Cohen's
book, although please note that I have re-arranged the quotes in order that these
quotations are more free-flowing in the context of what Cohen has written.
Cohen writes:
Imbued with the lessons of the Holocaust, Ben-
Gurion was consumed by fears for Israel's security . . .
In his public speeches and writings as prime
minister Ben-Gurion rarely discussed the Holocaust.
In private conversations and communications with
foreign leaders, however, he returned to the lessons of
the Holocaust time and again. In his correspondence
with President John F. Kennedy in 1963, he linked
Arab enmity to Israel with Hitler's hatred of the Jews,
and wrote:
"As a Jew I know the history of my people, and carry
with me the memories of all it has endured over a
period of three thousand years, and the effort it has cost
to accomplish what has been achieved in this country
in recent generations . . . Mr. President, my people have
the right to exist, both in Israel and wherever that
may live, and this existence is in danger" . . .
Anxiety about the Holocaust reached beyond Ben-
Gurion to infuse Israeli military thinking. The
destruction of Israel defined the ultimate horizon of
the threat against Israel. Israeli military planners have
always considered a scenario in which a united Arab
military coalition launched a war against Israel with
the aim of liberating Palestine and destroying the
Jewish state. This was referred to in the early 1950s as
mikre hkol, or the "everything scenario." This kind of
planning was unique to Israel, as few nations have
military contingency plans aimed at preventing
apocalypse.
Ben-Gurion had no qualms about Israel's need for
weapons of mass destruction . . . Ben Gurion saw Arab
hostility toward Israel as deep and long-lasting . . .
Ben-Gurion's pessimism . . . influenced Israel's foreign
and defense policy for years. Ben-Gurion's world view
and his decisive governing style shaped his critical role
in initiating Israel's nuclear program . . .
Ben-Gurion believed that science and technology
had two roles in the realization of