Ben-Gurion’s Army: How the IDF Came into Being (and Almost Didn’t)

The Jewish general, his visage grim and his words deliberate, spoke as follows:

If I wanted to sum it all up and be cautious, I would say that at this moment, our chances are very much equal. If I am to be more candid, the [Arab armies’] advantage is large, if they bring all their fighting force to bear.

This statement, one of the most dramatic in the history of Israel, was uttered in Tel Aviv on May 12, 1948 by Yigael Sukenik. Already known by his code name Yadin, he was the head of operations of the Haganah, the underground military organization of the yishuv, the Jewish community in pre-state Palestine. His audience: ten members of the People’s Administration, Israel’s cabinet-in-waiting, who had assembled under the chairmanship of David Ben-Gurion to debate their options in the midst of war.