The story of Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, is often framed in terms of land: purchasing it, building towns and farms, planting trees, and making the desert bloom. Less well known is that “conquering the sea” was also an important part of Zionism. David Ben Gurion [See https://thecjn.ca/arts-culture/treasure-trove-recalls-david-ben-gurions-1951-triumphant-visit-to-new-york-city/], who later became Israel’s first Prime Minister, saw seafaring as critical to the regeneration of the Jewish nation and the establishment of the Jewish state.  The sea offered economic opportunities for shipping and fishing and, because of the long coast line, access to the rest of the world including to facilitate immigration.

At the inauguration of the port in Tel Aviv in 1936, Ben Gurion said:

“The conquest of the soil by city people was the great, first adventure of our movement, of........

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