Letter from David Ben-Gurion with a Request that Water be Provided for the People of the Sejera Colony - April 1948

Letter from David Ben-Gurion with a Request that Water be Provided for the People of the Sejera Colony - April 1948

Letter written and signed by Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion from 5/4/1948 in which he requests that Mr. Hertzfeld assist the residents of Sejera (now Ilaniya) by providing water.

'You have a great, unique mitzvah oppotunity: To give irrigation water to the residents of Sejera, it is an honorable obligation for the desperate farmers ... who have suffered so much for some fifty years ... don't miss out ... from the granary to the winery, Yosef Fine will not let you go until you commit to do yours.' David Ben-Gurion's initialed signature appears in the margins: 'ד. ב. ג.'

During the War of Independence, there were heavy battles fought over the Sejera colony, between Fawzi Kawachi's rescue forces and the Golani brigade, which suffered great losses until the Arabs retreated from the area. Yosef Fine [1903-1949], mentioned in the letter, was a senior commander in the Haganah. After the War of Independence he served as the chief inspector of the abandoned territory. About a year later, in 1949 he was killed by an unintentional discharge from a hunting rifle. The addressee is apparently Avraham Hertzfeld [1896-1973], a member of the Second Aliyah, among the prominent activists of the labor settlement.

[1] leaf, 17x21 cm. Fold marks, stains. Fine condition.