| David Gruen was born on October 16, 1886 in Plonsk, Poland.
The son of an ardent Zionist, Ben-Gurion, at age 14, helped create the Ezra youth movement. And, at 17, Ben-Gurion joined the Poalei Zion movement and became a teacher in a Jewish school in Warsaw.
Ben-Gurion moved to Israel in 1906 and helped found one of the first agricultural communes (Kibbutz). He also helped establish the Jewish self-defense group, Hashomer.
After the Ottoman authorities, who controlled Palestine at the time, expelled Ben-Gurion for his Zionist activities, he traveled to New York, where he met and married Paula Monbesz.
After the British issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917, Ben-Gurion returned to Palestine and joined the Jewish Legion.
Ben-Gurion helped found the Histadrut. And from 1935 to 1948, he served as chairman of the executive committee of the Jewish Agency for Palestine.
In May of 1948 the British left Palestine and Ben-Gurion declared the independence of Israel. Ben-Gurion became the new country's first Prime Minister.
In 1953, Ben-Gurion retired to Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev, but returned to politics just two years later as Defense Minister then Prime Minister.
In June of 1963 Ben-Gurion resigned as Prime Minister, but remained active politically. In 1965, he formed the Rafi party. In 1968, Rafi joined Mapai and Ahdut Ha'avoda to form the Israel Labor Party. Ben-Gurion formed a new party, Hareshima Hamamlachtit.
In June of 1970, Ben-Gurion again retired from politics and returned to Sde Boker. He died in 1973. Movie and TV Credits:Links: | 
