Prime Minister Ben-Gurion Remarks on Israeli Victory
(January 12, 1949)
Five days after the end of the fighting, Mr. Ben-Gurion warned the nation not to be intoxicated with victory and over-confident:
Let us not be intoxicated with victory. To many people and not only among ourselves, it would appear to be a miracle: a small nation of 700,000 persons (at the outset of the campaign there were only 640,000) stood up against six nations numbering 30 million. However, none of us knows whether the trial by bloodshed has yet ended. The enemy forces in the neighbouring countries and in the world at large have not yet despaired of their scheme to annihilate Israel in its own land or at least to pare away its borders, and we do not yet know whether the recent war, which we fought in the Negev and which ended in victory for the IDF, is the last battle or not, and as long as we cannot be confident that we have won the last battle, let us not glory.
Source: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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