THE RECOGNITION OF ISRAEL

The following is the fascinating account of the recognition of Israel in 1948:

“On Friday, May 14, the day the new Jewish state was to be declared at midnight in Jerusalem--6:00 P.M. Washington time--Clifford and Lovett met for lunch in the quiet of the F Street Club and worked out the wording of a statement to be released by the President. ...

“Clifford put through a hurried call to Elihu Epstein, an official at the Jewish Agency in Washington, to tell him that recognition would occur that day, and to get the necessary papers ready and over to the White House at once. ... Clifford called the State Department, then reported back to Epstein. When the papers finally arrived, the name of the new country had been left blank--to be filled in latter--because it was still unknown.

“The new Jewish state--the first Jewish state in nearly two thousand years--was declared on schedule at midnight in Jerusalem, 6:00 P.M. in Washington. Eleven minutes later at the White House, Charlie Ross announced de facto recognition by the United States of Israel, as it was to be called. ...

“There was dancing in the streets in Brooklyn and the Bronx, a huge ‘salute-to-Israel’ rally at the Polo Grounds. In synagogues across the country thanksgiving services were held. At 2210 Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, headquarters of the Jewish Agency, a new flag was unfurled--pale blue and white, with a Star of David in the center. ...

“Time magazine said--there was immense approval in the country. ... As the popular radio commentator and world traveler Lowell Thomas said in his broadcast that evening, Americans in every part of the country would be turning to the Bible for some historical background for ‘this day of history.’ ...

“Truman felt great satisfaction in what he had been able to do for the Jewish people, and was deeply moved by their expressions of gratitude, then and for years to come. When the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Isaac Halevi Herzog, called at the White House, he told Truman, ‘God put you in your mother’s womb so you would be the instrument to bring the rebirth of Israel after two thousand years.’ I thought he was overdoing things, remembered David Niles, ‘but when I looked over at the President, tears were running down his cheeks’” (David McCullough, Truman, pp. 617-620).

In 1961, eleven years before Truman’s death, he was met in New York by David Ben-Gurion, who had been the first Prime Minister of Israel. The following is Ben-Gurion’s memory of the meeting:

“At our last meeting, after a very interesting talk, just before [the President] left me--it was in a New York hotel suite--I told him that as a foreigner I could not judge what would be his place in American history; but his helpfulness to us, his constant sympathy with our aims in Israel, his courageous decision to recognize our new state so quickly and his steadfast support since then had given him an immor­tal place in Jewish history. As I said that, tears suddenly sprang to his eyes. And his eyes were still wet when he bade me goodbye. I had rarely seen anyone so moved” (“President Truman’s Decision to Recognize Israel”).

(Taken from www.wayoflife.org )