Sde Boker

Sde Boker

A nation-builder's desert dream

Sde Boker is a kibbutz in the heart of the Negev where David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, made his home after he left office in 1953. He believed that settling the desert was essential to the country's future and urged young Israelis to do it. His modest hut is preserved as he left it, with his books and study. He and his wife Paula are buried nearby on a clifftop overlooking the Zin canyon. The Midreshet Ben-Gurion campus beside it now holds a research center and a field school.

Glossary: Sde Boker