Historic letter from David Ben-Gurion to then-IDF Chief of Staff Mordechai Maklef (the third Chief of Staff of the IDF, 1952–1953), in which Ben-Gurion outlines the vision for building the Israel Defense Forces and instructs that all soldiers not essential to the war effort be released from military service in favor of supporting the civilian effort. Typewritten on official Prime Minister of Israel letterhead and signed in Ben-Gurion’s own hand. Includes minor handwritten corrections within the body of the letter by Ben-Gurion himself. Jerusalem, December 8, 1952.
In his letter, David Ben-Gurion explains to Chief of Staff Mordechai Maklef the proper distribution of national manpower between military and civilian needs. He emphasizes that Israel’s security rests not solely on the strength of its army, but on the overall capacity of the nation—which includes the economy, the workforce, and national morale, all of which together constitute the true power of the people. Ben-Gurion stresses that the army is not the sole guarantor of Israel’s security. While its role is to remain prepared to repel a sudden enemy invasion, he asserts that if the army does not require certain soldiers for that purpose, they must be released to contribute to the country’s economy and civilian infrastructure.
He outlines a series of concrete directives in this spirit: “No fewer than three thousand civilian employees in the army must be cut, and all functionaries (whether soldiers or civilians) whose work need not be carried out specifically within the military framework – and can instead be done in civilian workshops or by private contractors – must be eliminated.” He continues: “The peak number of personnel in the standing army exceeds both necessity and capacity, and must be reduced by two thousand. All inefficient and non-essential personnel must be released.” From an economic standpoint, Ben-Gurion states: “All conscripts whose families require substantial financial support from the army after basic training must be discharged—except for those with essential skills needed by the military.” He concludes by instructing the Chief of Staff to eliminate all redundancy within the security services.
Ben-Gurion’s worldview, as expressed in this letter, went against the current at a time when the defense establishment was calling for ever-increasing recruitment, presenting the IDF as the most crucial organ of the State of Israel. Although Ben-Gurion himself coined the term “People’s Army, ” he was equally committed to setting clear boundaries for it. In 1952, the young State of Israel faced a dual challenge: on one hand, a persistent security threat from hostile neighboring countries; on the other, the immense task of building an economy and society almost from scratch, while absorbing massive waves of immigration. The IDF was still in its formative years, yet had already become a structured institution with a standing army, compulsory service, and an expanding internal civilian support system. Against this backdrop, Ben-Gurion- then Prime Minister and Minister of Defense – emphasized that Israel’s security did not depend solely on military power, but on the combined strength of the entire nation: the economy, the workforce, national morale, and civil resilience. In his 1952 letter, he sought to shape the IDF as an efficient, measured force – attentive to the civilian needs of a developing state and fully aware of its proper limits. His policy reflected a rational and systemic approach, viewing a strong army not as one that simply amasses manpower, but as one that understands its role within the delicate balance between defense and national development. Releasing soldiers whose service disrupted this balance was, in his eyes, a necessary step toward that goal.
[2] pages. 28×22 cm. Official letterhead. Filing holes. Good condition.
