And, while I am happy to acknowledge that it was Goldman that claimed this was what Ben Gurion had told him, if the quote is okay for none other than the Israeli historian Benny Morris to reference it's okay for me to do so ( see link )
Here's what Morris, along with the reference to Goldmans words, attributes to Ben Gurion during the Arab Revolt 36-39
" We must see the situation for what it is. On the security front, we are those attacked and who are on the defensive.
But in the political field we are the attackers and the Arabs are those defending themselves. They are living in the country and own the land, the village. We live in the Diaspora and want only to immigrate [to Palestine] and gain possession of [lirkosh] the land from them."
The above is virtually the same thing Goldman claims he had told him, so the sentiment of a better understanding of the Arab position expressed by Ben Gurion is wholly plausible