“We will fight the White Paper as if there is no war, and fight the war as if there is no White Paper.” -David Ben-Gurion, Head of the Jewish Agency for Palestine in September 1939 (he later became Israel’s 1st Prime Minister)
1939 was not a good year to be a Jew. In Continental Europe, Nazi Germany was embarking on systematic genocide of Jews and in Great Britain, a combination of Anti-Semitism and a desire for Arab support in the war effort against Germany created the famous “White Papers”. The White Papers were laws passed in Britain that limited Jewish immigration to Palestine and gave local Arabs the right to control land, travel, and transport for Jewish refugees from Europe. The British Government was desperate to appease and have the support of the Arab population in the Middle East during the war and so it enacted the White Papers to the frustration of Jews in the British Empire and beyond.
So if you’re a Jewish leader in 1939 what do you do? You do something unique. Why? Because you have to. Ben-Gurion decided to launch a 2 front movement with the Zionist movement. It would strongly support the British/Allied cause in World War 2 and simultaneously disregard and circumvent British Authority when it came to the White Papers. Jews were smuggled into Palestine every way possible and at the same time Jews served in the British Army fighting Germany all the way to 1945. Finally, in 1948 Israel became a sovereign nation led by Ben-Gurion.
In leadership, you may find yourself in situations where people need clarity, even when it’s not easy to provide. Ben-Gurion set out to define for Jews a reality, fuzzy, but HONEST. For 7 years they worked at 2 seemingly opposing strategies but ultimately leading to one goal. Sometimes people just need honesty, even when it’s confusing.