An Impossible Friendship

A striking piece of contemporary history

David Ben Gurion and Konrad Adenauer stand as stalwarts of 20th-century politics, their legacies linked through German and Israeli history, revealing striking parallels. Despite ascending to the pinnacle of political power relatively late in life, both emerge as architects of a new statehood for their respective nations, carrying out pioneering work both domestically and on the diplomatic stage. Their bond deepens into friendship although they only met face-to-face on two occasions.

Michael Borchard recounts the intertwined lives of Ben Gurion and Adenauer in parallel, illuminating their seemingly impossible friendship and prompting reflection on the contemporary lessons that can be derived from these two towering figures.

With a foreword by grandsons Yariv Ben-Elieser and Konrad Adenauer.

• Erste englischsprachige Übersetzung
• Ein wichtiger Teil der deutsch-israelischen Geschichte
• Politisch und gesellschaftlich bis heute höchst relevante Doppelbiografie

Born 1967 in Munich, Dr. phil. (Ph.D.), studied Political Science, Contemporary History and Public Law at University of Bonn, 1989–1994. Former member of the team of speech writers for the former Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl and head of the speech-writing division for the former Ministerpresident of the State of Thuringia, Bernhard Vogel. From 2003–2014 director of department ‘Politics and Consulting’ in the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). 2014–2017 resident representative of KAS in Israel. Since 2017 director of the department ‘References and Research Services/Archive for Christian Democratic Policy’ in KAS and as such responsible for the documents of the CDU.