Final_Judgment

[56] Final Judgment 117
In one of his final communications with Kennedy, Ben-Gurion wrote:
"Mr. President, my people have the right to exist . . . and this existence
is in danger." 141 (emphasis added) It was at this time that Ben-Gurion
demanded that Kennedy sign a security treaty with Israel. Kennedy refused.
On June 16, 1963 Ben-Gurion abruptly resigned as prime minister and
defense minister. Thus, the "prophet of fire" ended his fifteen-year career as
grand old man of Israel. At the time, the Israeli press—and indeed the world
press—told the world that Ben-Gurion's sudden resignation was a result of
his dissatisfaction with domestic political scandals and turmoil that were
rocking Israel. 142
A BITTER IMPASSE
However, the primary reason behind Ben-Gurion's departure was the
Israeli leader's inability to pressure JFK into accepting Israel's demands.
According to Hersh: "There was no way for the Israeli public . . . to suspect
that there was yet another factor in Ben-Gurion's demise: his increasingly
bitter impasse with Kennedy over a nuclear-armed Israel." 143 Ben-Gurion
had failed. The battle had been lost, but the war between the two men was
still to be won.
A MODERN-DAY HAMAN?
What was on Ben-Gurion's mind as he turned over the reins of
government to his successor? What was David Ben-Gurion's final act as
Prime Minister of the Jewish State? In light of Ben-Gurion's explicit
comment to John F. Kennedy that "my people have the right to exist . .
and this existence is in danger," we can certainly make a good presumption.
In Ben-Gurion's eyes, John F. Kennedy was clearly a modern-day
Haman—an enemy of the Jewish people. In Jewish folklore, Haman was a
descendant of the Amalekites who served as prime minister to King
Ahasueros of Persia. It was Haman who sought to convince the king that
all of the Jews of his empire should be exterminated forever.
However, according to legend, a beautiful Jewish temptress named
Esther used her feminine wiles on Ahasueros and, in the end, it was Haman
who was instead put to death. The important Jewish holiday of Purim
celebrates the deliverance of the Jews from Haman's intended holocaust.
In the Bible—Deut 25:19, I Sam. 15:8—the ancient Hebrews were
urged to "blot out the memory of the Amalekites" from whom Haman
descended.
In Israel—in 1963—David Ben-Gurion certainly looked upon John F.
Kennedy as a modern-day Haman, a son of the Amalekites. As he pondered
the brutal conflict with JFK, Ben-Gurion no doubt remembered the
meditation that is read on Purim:
"A wicked man, an arrogant offshoot of the seed of Amalek, rose up
against us. Insolent in his riches, he digged himself a pit, and his own
greatness laid him a snare. In his mind he thought to entrap, but was