Typed Letter Signed, in Hebrew, on Stationery of the Prime Minister of Israel, to the Nobel-Laureate, S.Y. Agnon, concerning Israel's position vis `a vis its Arab neighbors. (cc. to Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett)

BEN-GURION, DAVID.

10th April

Jerusalem

1956

Written as tensions heightened between Israel and Egypt (culminating in the Suez Campaign), Ben-Gurion expresses his thoughts on the situation: "I do not know whether there exists such a thing as "historical borders," I did much research into the subject and I deny that there are. But even should one assume that indeed there were, and that we have reached the [edge of these] borders - in terms of our security, the fact remains that some seventy million Arabs sit on the other side of our borders...and thus Israel has a severe problem, to which there are but two solutions: military readiness and an unceasing quest for peace, for war is the failure of diplomacy."