Consider a different statement:
If it doesn't rain today, then we will go watch the soccer game today.
This statement, which is written as "if $x$ then $y$", can also be equivalently restated as "We will go watch the soccer game today if it doesn't rain today". (In this example, $x = ($"$\text{it won't rain today}$"$)$ and $y = ($"$\text{we will go watch the soccer game today}$"$)$.)
We don't have a logic gate for an "if $x$ then $y$" situation, but notice that this statement is true either if $x$ is false (regardless of what $y$ is,) or if $y$ is true (regardless of what $x$ is.) In other words, the only case when this statement is false is when $x$ is true and $y$ is false (that is, when it doesn't rain, but, despite this, we don't go watch the game.)
This description of the behavior of the "if $x$ then $y$" statement tells us that we can express it as: $x' + y$ (not x, or y).
Conclusion: A statement of the form "if $x$ then $y$" (or "$y$ if $x$") can be expressed with the Boolean expression $x' + y$.