MAIN TALKING POINTS OF THE LESSON
- A. The United States State Department has always been pro-Arab, even until today. In 1948, Secretary of State George Marshall and Secretary of Defense James Forrestal were vehemently against the establishment of the State of Israel, and urged President Harry Truman not to recognize it if it was declared, even though Truman was inclined to support such a state.
- B. Truman refused to meet with Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, knowing that such a meeting would probably result in Truman’s commitment to recognize the new State of Israel, if and when it would be declared.
- C. In desperation, the American Zionist leaders asked Eddie Jacobson, a Jewish friend and ex-partner of President Truman, to meet with the president, in order to convince Truman to meet with Chaim Weizmann. Truman guessed why Jacobson came to see him, and forbade Jacobson from mentioning Chaim Weizmann. After a while, from the White House window, Jacobson saw the statue of Andrew Jackson located in Lafayette Square Park, and knew Jackson was Truman’s hero. He told Truman that just as Jackson was Truman’s hero, Chaim Weizmann was Jacobson’s hero. Truman then reluctantly agreed to meet Weizmann.
- D. As a result of the Truman-Weizmann meeting, President Truman was the first head of state to recognize the new State of Israel. This recognition was crucial to Israel’s survival, as it gave it legitimacy, and the entire world eventually recognized Israel. Without this recognition, the State of Israel would have been still-born, as was the “declared” State of Palestine in 1988 (that no one recognized). In 2009, for example, half the world did not recognize the newly declared state of Kosovo, which has still has not achieved complete legitimacy.
- E. Eddie Jacobson changed history by being, in the right place at the right time, just as Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai’s meeting with the Roman Emperor and his request to save the Yeshiva in Yavneh saved Judaism from possible extinction. There are many other such examples in Jewish history.
MORAL DILEMMA
The flow of oil to the USA by the Arabs might be in peril if you, President Truman, recognize the new State of Israel. But you promised your friend and the Zionists you would recognize the new Jewish state and it is the humanitarian thing to do. With pressures on both sides, should you now recognize the State? List your reasons why and why not.
For further information, analysis, web sites and study by teacher and or student on this topic, please refer to the Data Disk of Episode 6 Educators’ Guide. Feel free to contact
Rabbi Dr. Nachum Amsel for any questions or issues Nachum@jewishdestiny.com or phone 212-444-1656 – (note time difference to Israel when calling.)