Who was the first to recognize Israel? Stalin and the creation of the State of Israel
Introduction. 3
1. Background and creation of the national administration. 6
3. Ceremony and Declaration of Independence. 13
4. The question of the Constitution of the State of Israel. 22
5. Distinctive features of the system of government of the State of Israel 26
Conclusion. 37
For most Jews, the creation of the state was already a fait accompli. Theodor Herzl, who at the end of the 19th century became the herald of modern Jewish nationalism, in 1897 proclaimed the coming state at the first Zionist congress in the Swiss city of Basel, and in 1917 the Balfour Declaration confirmed the right of the Jewish people to a national home in Eretz Israel (Palestine) .
Back in October 1947, a joint commission of the National Committee (Vaada Leummi) and the Executive Committee of the Jewish Agency drew up a draft constitution. In March 1948, temporary legislative and executive bodies were created: the People's Council (Moetset Haam), consisting of 37 representatives of all parties and groups of the Yishuv - according to their real political weight - and the People's Government (Minkhelet Haam).
The People's Council, in turn, approved a carefully formulated provision for the Provisional Government, which was to begin functioning after the end of the English mandate. The Provisional State Council became the legislative body. It included all 37 members of the People's Council and 13 members of the People's Government. On May 14, the council adopted a resolution formally legitimizing its powers. First of all, he repealed a number of the most hostile British laws to the Yishuv, including the White Paper of 1939 (see vol. 2, pp. 123 - 131) and subsequent decrees of 1941 - 1945, which imposed additional restrictions on Jewish immigration and the acquisition of land by Jews and freedom of movement. On May 16, the council elected Chaim Weizmann as its chairman (but not yet president of Israel) and began governing the state under martial law. With rare exceptions, ministries were formed from bureaus and departments that existed under the National Committee, the Jewish Agency or the Mandatory Administration.
For Jews in Eretz Israel, the State of Israel became a reality on November 29, 1947, when the General Assembly of the United Nations, by a two-thirds vote, approved the plan for dividing Palestine into two states: Jewish and Arab. That day, crowds of people filled the streets of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and settlements throughout the Yishuv, expressing their jubilation in songs and dances. The Jews received their own state, albeit a small one, and the British mandate authorities had to leave the country by August 1, 1948.
But in November, nothing essentially changed. Rejected by the Arab bloc and, of course, not supported by the British government, the State of Israel was proclaimed only five and a half months later in conditions of growing terror and diplomatic skirmishes, not at all as expected on the shores of Lake Success. The leadership of the Yishuv was completely engaged in the fight against the British for several months and was taken by surprise by their hasty departure from the country (England unilaterally postponed the evacuation date to May 15). Therefore, the leadership underestimated the seriousness of the military threat from the Arab states.
The Jews of Palestine desperately needed weapons, and the United States' proposal to postpone the partition of the country and establish a temporary UN trusteeship over it (this was an initiative of the US State Department, contrary to the position of President Harry Truman) was a blow.
The Executive Committee of the Jewish Agency, which was headed by Ben-Gurion, responded immediately by notifying Washington that the Zionists would oppose any delay in Jewish independence. The proposal for temporary UN trusteeship was put forward for discussion at the Security Council meeting on March 19. But international support for this proposal turned out to be insignificant: it was regarded as belittling the authority of the UN. On April 1, the Security Council adopted a much more moderate decision, calling on Jews and Arabs to conclude a truce. On this day, Ben-Gurion, on the recommendation of the commander of the Haganah (the Haganah is a clandestine military organization before the formation of the state, which became the core of the Israel Defense Forces after its formation.) Yigal Yadin, decided to transform the Haganah into an army capable of conducting offensive operations. With Jerusalem and most of Galilee cut off, the new army was tasked with taking control of all the country's roads and the heights above them. By the end of April, the Haganah managed to force its way into besieged Jerusalem with a large amount of cargo and capture Haifa, and in early May Safed, thereby restoring contact with Jewish settlements in the Eastern Galilee. Meanwhile, the UN's interest in events in Palestine had noticeably cooled, and the Jews actively began to change the military situation in the country.
In the last century and today, military conflicts between the Arab population of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean (Palestine) and the Jews living there (Israel) do not stop. How was Israel formed and why is this state so unloved by Arabs today?
How Israel was formed, a little history
The first Hebrew tribes, whose people, according to the Holy Scriptures, descended from the twelve sons of the biblical patriarch Jacob, came to the eastern Mediterranean coast from the south around the 12th century BC. A little later, these lands were conquered by the Philistines, who called them Palestine. A long war begins between the Jews and the Philistines.
In order to more effectively resist the Philistines, in the 11th century, the ancient Hebrew tribes formed the Israel-Judea state under the rule of the king. It later splits into the Kingdom of Israel, which lasted until 722 BC, and the Kingdom of Judah, which ceased to exist in 586 BC.
The lands of Palestine were constantly attacked by neighbors near and far. In the 1st century BC, they were conquered by the mighty Rome; throughout the Middle Ages, they were controlled either by the Arabs, or by the European crusaders, or by the Egyptian Mamluks. In the 16th century, Palestine was occupied by the Ottoman Empire and these lands remained under Turkish rule until the First World War.
How modern Israel was formed
By the end of the 19th century, many Jews had settled throughout the world, and the Jewish bourgeoisie appealed to them to return to the lands of Palestine. Many responded, and by the year the First World War began (1914), the number of Jews living in Palestine was already 85 thousand people.
During the Second World War, as a result of Hitler's anti-Semitic policies, Jews left the territories he conquered en masse, and in 1948 there were already 655 thousand of them living in Palestine.
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations (UN) made a historic decision on the formation of two independent (sovereign) states on the land of Palestine - the Jewish (Israel) and the Palestinian Arab state. As a result, by 1951 the number of Jews living in their historical homeland - the territory of Palestine - reached 4,350,000.
The UN “allocated” 11.1 thousand square kilometers to the Arabs, and 14.1 to Israel. The newly created Israeli government was not satisfied with this, and during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948-49, Israel captured 6.7 thousand square meters. kilometers of Arab lands on which Jewish settlements were established. The Arabs of Palestine were left with only the territory around the city of Gaza and the land on the west bank of the Jordan River. This is the main reason for the numerous Arab-Israeli military conflicts that continue today.
After Israel was formed, its population constantly grew, its economy developed, and by 2011, 7.6 million people already lived in the country’s territory of 22 thousand square kilometers. people, and the country's gross domestic product was equal to 207 billion dollars.
The creation of the State of Israel is a political process that began with the emergence of the political Zionist movement in 1897 and ended with the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948, victory in the War of Independence and adoption by the UN by mid-1949.
Declaration of Independence of Israel
The Israeli Declaration of Independence is a legal document that proclaims the formation of the State of Israel and sets out the basic principles of its structure.
During the five months that followed the UN General Assembly resolution of November 29, 1947 on the division of Mandatory Palestine into two independent states - Jewish and Arab, intensive preparations were made for the proclamation of the state. Great Britain refused to cooperate in the implementation of the partition plan, and announced its intention to withdraw its armed forces and civilian personnel from the mandated territories by mid-May 1948.
American diplomacy tried to put pressure on the Jewish Agency and the Yishuv to delay the proclamation of a Jewish state. The United States doubted the Yishuv's ability to withstand the fight against the Arabs, and also refused to support the partition plan for Palestine, proposing to transfer it to UN trusteeship until an agreement was reached between Jews and Arabs.
Despite the objections of Western European governments and US pressure, and overcoming differences in the People's Rule and within the Mapai Party, D. Ben-Gurion insisted on declaring an independent Jewish state on the eve of the expiration of the British Mandate. On May 12, 1948, the People's Government, by six votes to four, decided to declare independence within two days. This decision was significantly influenced by the opinion of the Haganah leadership about the ability of the new state to resist the expected armed invasion of the armies of Arab countries.
The Jewish state was proclaimed on May 14, 1948, in the museum building on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, one day before the end of the British Mandate for Palestine. The time was chosen so that the ceremony could be completed before the Sabbath. The choice of location was determined by the desire to avoid religious or party overtones and a preference for a less visible and pompous building for fear of possible bombing. Invitations to the independence ceremony were sent out by messenger on the morning of May 14, asking that the event be kept secret. The final text of the Declaration of Independence was approved an hour before the ceremony, hastily typed and delivered by truck at 15:59. After the Declaration of Independence was read (4 p.m.), it was signed by 25 members of the People's Council, leaving room for the signatures of twelve more council members trapped in besieged Jerusalem. The ceremony was broadcast by Kol Israel radio station.
Over the course of five days, starting on May 9, 1948, several editions of the Declaration of Independence were reviewed by members of the People's Government. The final version was adopted at a meeting of the People's Council at 15:00 on May 14, 1948, an hour before the declaration of independence. The subjects of discussion were: the inclusion of the issue of borders in the declaration (the initial mention of borders defined by the UN was removed, the formulation proposed by the revisionists “within historical borders” was rejected); the name of the state (Eretz Israel (Land of Israel), Zion, Judea, etc. were also proposed, the name “State of Israel” was chosen personally by Ben-Gurion), a mention of God in the final part (it was decided to use the wording “Stronghold of Israel”, which allows for non-religious interpretation) ; adding to the guaranteed freedoms the freedom to choose a language.
The Israeli Declaration of Independence spoke of the emergence of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel and their desire to return to their historical homeland. The Holocaust of the Jewish people and their hard-won right to their own state were mentioned. The Declaration referred to the UN Resolution on the establishment of the Jewish State, announced the formation of transitional authorities and guaranteed openness to the repatriation of all Jews on the planet, and guaranteed the inhabitants of the country “full social and political equality of all its citizens without distinction of religion, race or sex... freedom of religion and conscience, the right to use one’s native language, the right to education and culture,” as well as the protection of holy places of all religions and loyalty to the principles of the UN. The Arabs were asked to stop the bloodshed, maintain peace and participate in the construction of a new state on terms of civil equality.
The first state to recognize Israel de facto was the United States (May 14, 1948). G. Truman announced this at 18:11 on May 14, 1948, i.e. already 11 minutes after D. Ben-Gurion announced the Declaration of Independence. The first state to recognize Israel de jure was the USSR (May 17, 1948).
The very next day after the declaration of independence of the state of Israel, troops from five members of the League of Arab States (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq) began military operations against the self-proclaimed country, in order to prevent the division of Palestine and the existence of an independent Jewish state. For Palestinians, these events became Nakba (Catastrophe) Day, celebrated on May 15th.
The day of the Declaration of Independence is a public holiday in Israel. Israel's Independence Day, like other holidays, is celebrated not according to the Gregorian calendar, but according to the Jewish calendar, on the 5th of Iyar.
The Jewish people arose in Eretz Israel. Here its spiritual, religious and political appearance took shape. Here he lived in his sovereign state, here he created the values of national and universal culture and gave the world as an inheritance the imperishable Book of Books.
Forcibly expelled from their homeland, the people remained faithful to it in all the countries of their dispersion, and never ceased to hope and hope for a return to their native land and the revival of their political independence in it.
Filled with the consciousness of this historical connection, Jews from generation to generation tried to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. Recent decades have been marked by a massive return to their home country. Pioneers, repatriates, who broke through all barriers on the way to the Motherland, and its defenders revived the desert, revived their Hebrew language and built cities and villages. They created a developing society, economically and culturally independent, peace-loving, but capable of defending itself, bringing the benefits of progress to all residents of the country and striving for state independence.
In 1897, at the call of Theodor Herzl, the herald of the idea of a Jewish state, the Zionist Congress met, proclaiming the right of the Jews to national revival on their land.
This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917 and confirmed by the mandate of the League of Nations, which gave special force to international recognition of the historical connection of the Jewish people with Eretz Israel and the right of the Jews to re-establish their National Home. That befell the Jewish people in recent times.
The catastrophe, the victims of which were millions of Jews in Europe, once again indisputably proved the need to solve the problem of the Jewish people, deprived of their homeland and independence, by restoring the Jewish State in Eretz Israel - a state that would open the gates of the fatherland to every Jew and would ensure the Jewish people the status of equal rights. nations in the family of nations of the world.
Those who survived the terrible Nazi massacre in Europe, as well as Jews from other countries of the world, despite all difficulties, obstacles and dangers, continued to illegally make their way to Eretz Israel and seek the right to a dignified existence, freedom and an honest working life in their home country.
During the Second World War, the Jewish population of Eretz Israel fully contributed to the struggle of free and peace-loving peoples against the black forces of Nazism. Through the blood of its fighters and military efforts, it acquired the right to be numbered among the peoples who laid the foundation for the union of the United Nations.
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing a Jewish State in Eretz Israel. The Assembly charged the people of the country with the responsibility to take all measures necessary to implement this resolution. This recognition by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their own state is irrevocable. The Jewish people, like any other people, have a natural right to be independent in their own state. On this basis, we, the members of the People's Council, representatives of the Jewish population of Eretz Israel and the Zionist movement, gathered on the day of the expiration of the British Mandate for Eretz Israel and by virtue of our natural and historical right and based on the decision of the General Assembly of the United Nations, we hereby proclaim the creation The Jewish State in Eretz Israel – the State of Israel.
We decree that from the expiration of the mandate, tonight, on the eve of Saturday, 6 Iyar 5708, May 15, 1948 until the establishment of elected and normally functioning state bodies in accordance with the constitution, which will be established by the elected Constituent Assembly no later than October 1 1948, the People's Council will act as the Provisional State Council, its executive body - the People's Government - will be the Provisional Government of the Jewish State, which will be called Israel.
The State of Israel will be open to the repatriation and unification of Jews scattered throughout the world; it will make every effort to develop the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants. It will be based on the principles of freedom, justice and peace, in accordance with the ideals of the Jewish prophets. It will realize complete social and political equality of all its citizens without distinction of religion, race or gender. It will ensure freedom of religion and conscience, the right to use one’s native language, and the right to education and culture. It will protect the holy places of all religions and will be faithful to the principles of the United Nations Charter.
The State of Israel expresses its readiness to cooperate with the organs and representatives of the United Nations in implementing the resolution of the General Assembly of November 29, 1947 and will take steps to realize the economic unity of the entire Eretz Israel.
We call on the United Nations to assist the Jewish people in building their state and to accept the State of Israel into the family of nations of the world.
We call on the sons of the Arab people living in the State of Israel - even in these days of the bloody aggression unleashed against us many months ago - to maintain peace and participate in the construction of the State on the basis of full civil equality and appropriate representation in all its institutions, temporary and permanent.
We extend the hand of peace and offer good neighborly relations to all neighboring states and their peoples and encourage them to cooperate with the Jewish people who have gained independence in their country. The State of Israel is ready to make its contribution to the common cause of development of the entire Middle East.
We call on the Jewish people in all countries of dispersion to rally around the Jews of Israel in the cause of aliyah and construction and to join their great struggle to realize the eternal dream of the people of Israel of deliverance.
Trusting in the Stronghold of Israel, we confirm with our signatures what is said in this Declaration at a meeting of the Provisional State Council in our native land, in the city of Tel Aviv, on this day, the eve of Saturday, the 5th day of the month of Iyar in the year 5708, May 14, 1948.
David Ben Gurion and others
It acquired in 1948, when Ben Gurion announced to the whole world the proclamation of the independent sovereign state of Israel.
Ben Gurion read this statement in the museum building on Rothschild Street in Tel Aviv. Israel's independence was declared one day before the end of the British Mandate for Palestine.
Then, when Israel was created, the Declaration of Independence stated that in November 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution according to which the Jewish independent state of Israel was created in Eretz Israel.
The same United Nations declaration emphasized that, like any other people, the Jewish people can be independent, have the right to freedoms and independence, as well as sovereignty in their own independent and sovereign state.
Immediately, the sovereign independent state of Israel opened its borders for the repatriation of Jewish people from all countries of the world, with the sole purpose of uniting all Jews scattered around the world. The Declaration of the Founding of Israel also stated that the new state would make every effort to develop the new Jewish state and the welfare of the Jewish people. The main postulate of the declaration was that from now on the political structure of the State of Israel is aimed at the development and preservation of such main democratic foundations as freedom and justice, peace and tranquility, and will also fully comply with all the teachings of the Hebrew prophets.
The main state principles will be: the full rights of the country's citizens, both in political and social matters, regardless of their religion, gender and race. The Declaration on the Founding of Israel stated that every citizen of the State of Israel will be guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, the right to speak their native language, the right to a good education, to preserve culture and to decent development.
And yet, the Declaration clearly stated that the new state would sacredly preserve monuments of all three religions on the territory of Israel, and would also adhere to and observe the principles of the UN Charter.
Immediately in 1948, after the declaration of independence of the State of Israel, it was announced that the new independent state would be and is ready to cooperate with the United Nations, with its bodies and representative offices on the implementation of the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in November 1947 .
And, in addition, the new state will take all possible steps to implement the economic unity of Israel.
At the same time, during the creation of Israel, after the proclamation of the formation of a new Jewish state, the Arab population living in Israel was asked to maintain peace and take part in the construction and revival of a new sovereign state, which would be based on equality. Everyone living in Israel was promised equal representation in all institutions and organizations of the state.
In the year of the declaration of independence of the state, Israel extended its hand for good neighborly relations with all neighboring states, their peoples, and called for cooperation with the people of Israel, with the people who have been moving towards independence on their land for so long.
The declaration also stated that Israel would certainly contribute to the rapid development of the Middle East.
The first state to de facto accept Israel was the United States of America. President Truman announced this in 1948 on May 14, immediately after Ben Gurion's Declaration of Independence. The country that was the first to recognize Israel de jure was the Soviet Union. This happened in May 1948, after the founding of Israel and the declaration of sovereign Israel. A year later, the sovereign independent state of Israel became a member of the United Nations.
The creation of Israel was painful and quite difficult. After the declaration of the Declaration of Independence, on the second day of the existence of the new independent state, the armed armies of the Arab states entered its territory: Syria, Transjordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Yemen, Egypt. They started the war against Israel. The purpose of the attack was one - the destruction of the Jewish state, since the countries of the Arab world did not recognize the new state of Israel.
The Israeli army won its independence with honor; henceforth the war of 1948 will be called the War of Independence. It should be added that the Israelis not only defended their independence, but also conquered part of the Arab lands, thereby expanding the territory of Israel. The war ended in June 1949, only a year later a peace treaty was signed, which stated the cessation of hostilities.
In difficult times, the time of war, the formation and creation of Israel as a state took place. The Khagan organization, which existed in a semi-underground position, became, and in 1948 Ben Gurion, who became the first prime minister in the history of an independent state, signed a decree on the creation of the Shai special service, the main function of which was to conduct all types of intelligence: counterintelligence, reconnaissance.
Subsequently, three intelligence departments were created from one service: military intelligence, political intelligence and counterintelligence. All three intelligence services were created in the new state on the basis of the British intelligence services. Today, these intelligence services have names - the Israeli Military Intelligence Service AMAN, the General Security Service "Shabak" - this is how counterintelligence began to be called, and "Mossad" - this is the name of political intelligence.
When Israel was created, the political and governmental structure of the country was established.
The head of state of Israel is the President. He is elected by Knesset members for seven years by secret ballot. The first president of the new state of Israel was Chaim Weizmann. According to the President of Israel, he does not have the powers of government; rather, he is a representative figure in the political hierarchy. The President is a symbol of the state, his task is to perform representative functions. What can a president do in Israel? In addition to representative functions, he approves the new composition of the government after the next elections, and also provides amnesty to those convicted.
When Israel was founded, the highest legislative body was determined to be the Knesset. This is a parliament consisting of 120 deputies elected by party lists using direct voting. The first Knesset came into existence after the first elections in 1949. The central executive body is the government. The government is headed by the Prime Minister, who is actually the head of the state of Israel. The first prime minister was Ben Guriron.
The highest judicial body of the state is the Supreme Court, which in Israel is called the High Court of Justice. All major government and government agencies and organizations are located in .
The executive power during the creation of Israel was also defined - these are city mayors, who are elected locally through direct voting. And yet, it is not separated from the state, and therefore in the cities there are still religious councils consisting of clergy of Israel. The services provided by religious councils relate mainly to religious rites and services, the conclusion of legal acts: marriage, divorce, birth or death.
It is safe to say that if Harry Truman had not been at the head of the United States after World War II, the history of Israel would have been different, and the very emergence of this state would have been in question. Truman, who became in April...
It is safe to say that if Harry Truman had not been at the head of the United States after World War II, the history of Israel would have been different, and the very appearance of this state and tours to Israel in the fall would have been in question. Truman, who unexpectedly became the most powerful man on the planet in April 1945, did the almost impossible to create a Jewish state. It is no coincidence that Israel is still the only country, besides the United States, where you can find not only monuments to Harry Truman, but also schools, hospitals and libraries named after him. In the historical memory of Israelis, Truman ranks with the founders of the nation and the country. “These Israelis,” he himself later admitted, “put me on a pedestal next to Moses.”1 However, Truman's role and the details of his political struggle for the creation and legitimization of the Jewish state still remain little known.
The conflict in Palestine has a long history. When Truman became president, Palestine was a British protectorate, separated at the end of World War I from the Ottoman Empire and administered by London under a League of Nations mandate. Adopted in 1917, the Balfour Declaration, named after the British Foreign Secretary, recognized Palestine as the homeland of the Jews and recorded their right to organize their own state there. During the First World War, the declaration was approved by all the great powers. In 1922, it was approved by the League of Nations, which transferred Palestine to the British protectorate. Based on this declaration, the British authorities already in the 20s and 30s allowed Jews to create their own settlements there. However, the declaration provoked sharp opposition from the Palestinian Arabs, who at the time of its adoption did not yet have their own state.
The British government soon found itself between a rock and a hard place - the Muslims of Palestine who lived on its territory, and the Jews who hoped to move there and form Israel. Although in the period between the two wars the Jewish population of Palestine grew from 80 thousand to approximately 500 thousand, the Arabs did everything to prevent the implementation of the declaration. However, the Second World War, the horrors of the Holocaust, and the appearance of a huge number of Jewish refugees in different countries finally aggravated the Jewish question - so much so that it required an urgent solution. At the same time, the Zionist movement acquired an increasingly militarized, aggressive form. Armed Jewish units began to engage in constant clashes with both Palestinian and British forces.
In 1942, at the Zionist conference in New York, it was decided to seek the immediate creation of a Jewish state throughout Palestine and unlimited immigration of Jews from all over the world there. This could not but cause increasing bitterness among the Arabs, who in 1945 created the Arab League of Nations, the main goal of which was to prevent the emergence of a Jewish state in Palestine. After the 1945 parliamentary elections in England, the situation became even more complicated. Instead of Winston Churchill, who publicly declared: “I am a Zionist!”, the post of Prime Minister was replaced by Clement Attlee, whose government immediately began to develop plans to withdraw from Palestine and Greece and transfer control there to the UN.
From the very beginning of his work in the Senate in 1935, Truman supported the Zionist movement. In 1944, he promised to “help fight for the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine”2. With his arrival in the White House, his position did not change. Already on the eighth day of his presidency, on April 20, 1945, Truman met with Rabbi Wise. The President said he was well aware of both the Jewish and Arab points of view on the problem of Palestine, as well as what happened to the Jews during World War II. The United States, Truman said, would do everything possible to help the Jews find a homeland.
By this time, the Zionist movement had become an influential political force in America that neither the president nor other politicians could ignore. In 1946, at a meeting with American “Middle Eastern” diplomats who warned Truman about the decline in US prestige in the area due to the White House’s obvious sympathies for Zionism, the president said: “Please forgive me, gentlemen, but I have hundreds to take into account thousands of those who stand for the success of Zionism. There are not hundreds of thousands of Arabs among my voters.”3 Jews made up a significant number of Truman's supporters in the state of Missouri, from where he was elected to the Senate, there were a lot of them in the state of New York, which gave 45 electoral votes in the presidential election, the financial and political support of the Democratic Party largely depended on them, they played a large role and in the country's media.
Let us note that Truman’s religious consciousness, as well as his knowledge of ancient history, inclined him even more towards the idea of creating a Jewish state on the territory of Palestine. Truman later admitted that he had always been interested in the history of Palestine and knew that this region was at one time one of the main centers of the world. However, “the Arabs were never able to make the region as strong and influential in the world as it had been before, although certain opportunities for this still remained.” Truman believed “that under Jewish leadership an excellent industrial system could be created, and the productive capabilities of the region could be used by both Jews and Arabs”4.
US leaders, however, were not yet ready for a radical solution to the question of Palestine. When Churchill said at the Potsdam Conference that he would be glad if the United States were willing to replace Britain as the main power in the region, Truman quickly replied, “No thanks.”5 For the first three years after the end of the World War, the conflict in Palestine was a classic example of the failure of US foreign policy, which was carried out by the State Department without taking into account the nuances of the domestic situation in the country. For Truman himself, the struggle for the creation of Israel became a struggle over who determines the foreign policy of the United States - the president of the country or the professional officials and diplomats of the State Department. Already in a conversation with Rabbi Wise, Truman complained that officials “advise me to be as careful as possible, they say that I do not understand anything that is happening in Palestine and that I should leave everything to the so-called “experts” ... Some “experts” State Department think they should make policy. But as long as I am president, I will make policy, and their job is only to implement it. Those of them who don’t like it can quit any time they want.”6
Truman himself was under strong pressure from the Jewish American lobby, where an important role was played by the president’s old friend and his former partner at Truman and Jacobson (a haberdashery store in Kansas City) Eddie Jacobson. However, the president tried to act rationally. In a letter to Senator Joseph Ball in the fall of 1945, he admitted: “I tell the Jews directly that if they are willing to give me five hundred thousand soldiers to fight the war with the Arabs, we can satisfy their desires, otherwise we will wait a while with negotiations. I do not think that you and the other members of the Senate will be inclined to send half a dozen divisions into Palestine to support the Jewish state. I’m trying to make the world a safe place for Jews, but I don’t want to go to war with Palestine.”7 At a government meeting on July 30, 1946, Truman, angered by the growing criticism of American Jews against him, even exclaimed: “Jesus Christ, when he was here on earth, could not satisfy them. So who can expect that I will succeed in this better than Him!?”8.
Finally, Truman settled on a position that US Deputy Secretary of State Dean Acheson described as: “first, the immediate emigration to Palestine of one hundred thousand displaced Jews from Eastern Europe; secondly, a complete rejection of political or military responsibility for this decision.”9 That is, it was a position within the “de facto” principle. On October 4, 1946, speaking on the day of Yom Kippur, Truman declared that “the United States will support the establishment of a viable Jewish state controlling its emigration and economic policies in the appropriate area of Palestine.”10 In the eyes of many, this meant Truman's direct support for the Zionist movement. And most Zionists believed that US policy towards Palestine completely coincides with their policy. When they found differences, they immediately accused the White House of being pro-Arab. The Arabs also believed that Truman stood for Zionist positions and treated him with undisguised aggressiveness. However, “our policy,” Truman said, “was neither Jewish nor Arab, but simply American policy. It was American because it was aimed at a peaceful solution to problems in this difficult region. It was American because it was based on the desire to end human tragedy and see promises fulfilled.”
Pressure on the president also grew within the country. In the second half of 1947 alone, Truman received more than 135 thousand letters, telegrams and petitions in support of the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. In November 1947, Truman secretly met with Zionism's most respected leader, 74-year-old scientist Chaim Weizmann, who had just lost re-election as chairman of the World Zionist Congress. Weizmann was one of the creators of the Balfour Declaration; they were already familiar with Truman and felt mutual sympathy. Truman believed that “Weizmann was a wonderful man, one of the wisest men I have ever met, a true leader, one of a kind... He devoted his life to two things - science and Zionism. He was a man of colossal achievements and exceptional personal qualities.”
At the meeting, Weizmann told Truman about his vision of how the Jews would revive Palestine and turn it into a prosperous industrial power, how they would develop the desert. The new Jewish state, he said, will become an example for the entire region. The guest showed the president maps that suggested possible plans for the division of Palestine and talked about how he planned to organize agriculture in the new state. Truman, who spent many years of his life on a farm in Missouri, not only took an ardent interest in these plans, but also promised Weizmann his support. Immediately after the meeting, the president instructed the American delegation to support at the UN the project of dividing Palestine into two parts.
Truman's only concern was that such a division could be used by the Soviet Union to strengthen its position in the region. Weizmann disagreed: “There are fears that the implementation of our project in Palestine could somehow be used as a channel for the penetration of communist ideas into the Middle East. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our emigrants from Eastern Europe are precisely those people who leave communist areas. Otherwise they would not have left at all. If there had been a serious attempt by the Soviets to spread communist influence through our emigration, they could have easily done so in previous decades. But every election shows that communism has achieved very little popularity in our society. Educated peasants and skilled workers strive for high standards of living, which will never be accepted by communists. The danger of communism exists only in the illiterate and impoverished strata, who are unable to resist it on their own.”11
By this time, the British administration of Palestine had become the main target of the Zionist movement. Violence increased and events became uncontrollable. On July 22, 1946, Jewish terrorists blew up the British military center located in the King David Hotel in Tel Aviv; 91 people were killed. At the beginning of 1947, under the influence of world public opinion and pressure from the United States and European countries, England allowed Jewish refugees from Europe to move to Palestine. No longer able to control the situation and maintain order, London announced that it would terminate its mandate on May 15, 1948. The Arab leaders immediately publicly declared that this day would be the beginning of the “defense of Arab rights.” The UN immediately created a special commission to consider the Palestinian question and, under pressure from the United States, on November 29, 1947, adopted a decision providing for the division of Palestine into Arab and Jewish parts.
The leaders of Zionism quickly saw this decision as their final victory. However, Arab leaders who disagreed with the UN launched direct military action in an attempt to prevent the Jews from establishing control over the part of Palestine they had received. The conflict became increasingly acute; by the beginning of 1948, Arabs and Jews were openly fighting each other. London, without hiding, waited for the end of its mandate and let everything take its course. Truman wrote that the situation was very difficult: “The Jews were for separation, but not all Jews were. The Arabs were against separation, but they did not agree on how much they were against it. The British, apparently, had only one thing in mind: they simply wanted to wash their hands of this whole matter.”12 The practical implementation of the UN resolution on the division of Palestine became increasingly problematic.
At the same time, within the Truman administration itself, voices against division were increasingly heard. Defense Secretary James Forrestal, for example, took every opportunity to criticize the UN decision. “You just don’t understand,” he said, “that forty million Arabs will push four hundred thousand Jews into the sea. And that's the whole point. Oil - we must be on the side of oil"13. In addition to oil, the US military convinced the president that it was impossible to send US troops to Palestine in the event of a full-scale armed conflict breaking out there. Almost all diplomats, as well as State Department employees, as the president himself admitted, were against even the very idea of creating a Jewish state in Palestine. Their main argument was that for many years England was able to maintain its position in the region only by relying on the Arabs. Now that England is leaving and transferring all responsibility for the situation there into the hands of the United States, Washington must do the same, because if you do not make friends with the Arabs, they will go over to the camp of the Soviet Union. Truman did not agree with this logic, but it was very difficult to overcome the opinion of the country’s foreign policy elite.
Truman's position was greatly weakened by the fact that the most popular politician at that time, the hero of the recent war, the US Secretary of State, 68-year-old General George Marshall, was opposed to the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. According to the American military, the likelihood of a military conflict in Europe was growing every day. In this situation, Marshall was concerned about the possibility of unhindered access to Middle Eastern oil. Therefore, more and more often in the documents of the State Department, the idea slipped through that it was necessary to postpone the practical implementation of the UN decision. The memo Truman received from his newly created Central Intelligence Agency also suggested that the division of Palestine would not solve the region's problems as the White House hoped. All this caused considerable concern among the US Jewish lobby, which further increased pressure on the president. At the beginning of 1948, Chaim Weizmann asked for a new meeting with the president. However, under these conditions, Truman decided not to meet with the leaders of Zionism anymore, because such meetings could be misinterpreted by the American and world public.
It was a difficult time for Truman*. The elections were approaching, which he was expected to lose. The President had to keep up with the rapidly changing situation in Europe; the day before he spoke at a joint session of Congress, where he asked deputies to speed up the approval of the Marshall Plan and the universal military training program. Tensions in American-Soviet relations grew rapidly. For the first time in March 1948, Truman openly named the Soviet Union as the only country blocking the establishment of peace: “Since the end of the war, the Soviet Union and its agents have been destroying the independence and democratic character of a number of countries in Eastern and Central Europe. This is a ruthless course, and it is clear that the USSR is striving to extend it to the still free countries of Europe. As a result, a critical situation has developed in Europe today... I believe that we have reached a position where the position of the United States must be clear and clear. There are times in history when it is much more important to act than to wait. We must be willing to pay the price for peace, otherwise we will certainly be forced to pay the price for war."14 It seemed that the world was moving towards a new bloody battle.
Truman's popularity was rapidly declining. According to Gallup polls, the president's approval rate dropped to 36 percent in 1948. Newspapers and magazines published sarcastic materials, proving that Truman could not cope with the situation either in the country or in the world. The Nation magazine, for example, rhetorically asked: “Should Truman be in the White House?” The New Republic put on the cover the phrase: “Truman should resign.” The New York Times wrote that Truman not only does not have the qualities necessary for a president, not only is he too petty and colorless, but he even has difficulty understanding printed text. “The influence of the current president on affairs is weaker than that of any other president in modern history,” the newspaper concluded. The split in his foreign policy team did not strengthen the president’s position either.
On March 13, 1948, Eddie Jacobson visited the White House. It was a now rare meeting between two best friends. Truman loved and appreciated Jacobson very much; in his memoirs he wrote that “it would not have been easy to find a truer friend”15. However, at the very beginning of the meeting, Truman warned his friend that he did not want to hear a word about Palestine and admitted that he was very angry with the Zionist leaders who constantly criticized his policies and spoke disrespectfully about the president personally. They, Truman said, “have made me about as anti-Semitic as a man can be.” Truman's old friend simply began to cry in the Oval Office. Chaim Weizmann, he said, has been his personal lifelong hero: “He is the greatest Jew alive. He may be the greatest Jew who ever lived. He is already an old man and very sick. He traveled thousands of miles to talk to you, Harry, and you refuse this meeting. It is not like you. I thought, Harry, you could handle what they put on you."16 Truman could not see his friend's tears, he turned in his chair to the window, looked at the Rose Garden in the White House courtyard for a minute, turned to Jacobson and said: “You won, you bald son of a bitch. I will meet him."17
Truman later acknowledged that Eddie played a truly decisive role in developing his position on the Jewish question. Jacobson, in his more than 30-year friendship with Truman, had never asked his powerful friend for anything before, and now that he had finally made a request on behalf of the Zionist movement, Truman could not say no to him. The President called the State Department and said he wanted to meet with Weizmann. “You should have heard,” Truman recalled, “how they screamed. The first thing they told me was that Israel is not a country and they don't have a flag at all and they have nothing to fly. I told them that Weizmann was staying at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and they always put something up there when distinguished foreign guests stay. Find out what they posted there for Weizmann, and use it.”
On Thursday, March 18, 1948, a decisive meeting took place between Weizmann and Truman. It lasted 45 minutes. No flags were required, since the meeting was secret; the guest was ushered into the White House through a side entrance. As Truman later recalled, the conversation went well. The US President said that he wants a fair solution to the issue, and without bloodshed. “I explained to him the basis of my policy on the Jewish question and that my main interest was to see justice established, but without bloodshed. When Weizmann left my office, I felt that he completely understood my policy, and I, in turn, understood what he wanted."18 Truman said he was of the opinion that with Palestine politically divided into two states, an economic union could be created and both countries could work side by side to develop the region. The main thing is to prevent bloodshed. “Obviously, little good can be said about the solution to a problem,” the US President noted in this regard, “if it involves the destruction of hundreds of thousands of lives in order for other hundreds of thousands of lives to be saved”19.
Truman firmly promised Weizmann that the United States would support the idea of dividing Palestine into two parts. However, the very next day, the US representative to the UN Security Council, Warren Austin, made a statement about the need to postpone the implementation of the plan for the division of Palestine, and instead establish direct international control there. Truman was very angry that in the eyes of the leader of world Zionism he appeared to be a deceiver and even sent a special envoy to Weizmann explaining that the position of the State Department and Austin’s speech at the UN did not correspond to the views of the president of the country20. In his diary that evening, Truman angrily wrote: “Today the State Department simply pulled the rug out from under my feet... This morning I learned that they had revised my Palestinian policy, and this is the first time I have learned about it from the newspapers! Damn it!!! Now I look like an insincere liar... I have never been in such a situation in my life. There are people at the third and fourth levels of the State Department who have always wanted to cut my throat. Finally they succeeded... “21. He called his closest adviser Clark Clifford and said in his hearts: “I promised Chaim Weizmann support?! Now he’ll think I’m an asshole!”22.
Truman's envoy brought a response from Weizmann, where he wrote that he fully trusted the American president, that the division of Palestine was inevitable, moreover, that it had already actually happened. The choice for the Jews in the current situation, Weizmann wrote, is “between the creation of a state and destruction. History and Providence, Mr. President, have placed the solution of this issue in your hands, and I am confident that you will resolve it in accordance with moral laws."23
The idea of international control over Palestine, proposed by the State Department, caused an extremely skeptical reaction from the Pentagon. According to the calculations of US Secretary of War Forrestal, such control would require the presence in the region of at least 100 thousand troops under the UN flag, including at least 47 thousand of them would have to be provided by the United States. This, according to the military, exceeded the country's capabilities in the context of the growing likelihood of a military conflict with the USSR in Europe. Moreover, it was unclear how the American public would react to the inevitable death of its soldiers in Palestine, where the United States has no vital geopolitical interests.
Truman remained true to his word. On the evening of April 11, he invited Eddie Jacobson to the White House and asked him to “very clearly and clearly,” but secretly, confirm to Weizmann that he would ensure recognition of the new Jewish state by the United States. Eddie would later write that it was clear that Truman was wholeheartedly in favor of such recognition, and that the US President had finally made up his mind on this issue. If Truman was ready for some time to discuss the project of establishing a UN mandate over Palestine, it was only to briefly postpone the decisive division of it into two parts in order to better prepare this division. He understood that such a discussion would be perceived by both Arabs and Jews as Washington’s rejection of the idea of creating an independent Jewish state in Palestine.
Meanwhile, the situation continued to worsen. By the spring of 1948, Jews had established control over some Arab areas. The leaders of the Jewish armed groups, or, as they called themselves, the provisional government, decided to proclaim an independent state on May 15, 1948, as soon as the British mandate ended, and appeal to the countries of the world to recognize it. In turn, the Arabs were actively developing plans for the administrative management of all of Palestine and preparing armed forces. Military units of the Arab states surrounding Palestine gradually moved into its territory. On May 8, Truman's advisor Clark Clifford told the President that the likelihood of the practical creation of Jewish and Arab states in the very near future was very high, and the United States must be prepared to act quickly in the new conditions. Truman could not entrust this to the State Department, so he asked Clifford, his domestic policy adviser, to prepare preliminary materials on a possible US reaction to the proclamation of a Jewish state.24
On May 12, a decisive meeting of the American leadership on the issue of Palestine took place. Clifford spoke on behalf of supporters of the recognition of the new state, who called on the United States, if a new Jewish state is proclaimed, to recognize it as soon as possible - most importantly, before the Soviet Union does it. Clifford even suggested publicly announcing the White House's readiness to recognize the new state even before its official proclamation. This will be an act in accordance with the President's policy and understanding of humanity, Clifford said. The 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis were the victims of the greatest genocide in history, and every thinking person should accept at least some responsibility for the surviving Jews who, unlike all other Europeans, have nowhere to go. There is no real alternative to the division of Palestine, there is no alternative to Washington recognizing a new state, Clifford said. The delay caused by the US State Department will not be understood by Jews around the world. “No matter what the State Department or anyone else thinks, the fact is that there will be a Jewish state. To think otherwise is simply unrealistic,” he concluded.
Secretary of State George Marshall opposed it extremely harshly. He was quite dissatisfied with the fact that behind his back the Presidential Adviser on Domestic Policy was preparing materials on such an important foreign policy issue. This was General Marshall's harshest speech of his life. It was also the sharpest disagreement with the president that Truman had ever heard from his inner circle. The main idea of the Secretary of State was that the interests of domestic policy should not determine the direction of foreign policy.
If, Marshall said, looking straight into Truman's face, he followed Clifford's advice, then Marshall himself would oppose Truman in the presidential election next November. According to the recollections of those present, after the Secretary of State’s speech there was a long and heavy silence. Truman showed no emotion. Finally, he raised his hand and said gently that he fully understood the political risk of any decision he had to make on this issue, but he himself would judge the extent of such risk25. The President then suggested returning to discuss this issue again the next day. When everyone left the office, Truman looked at Clifford and said: “Let’s not assume that all is lost just yet.”
The next morning, reporters bombarded Truman with questions about whether or not the United States would recognize the new Jewish state in Palestine. “I will cross the bridge,” he replied, “only when I reach it.” Truman was afraid to say more because George Marshall could resign today, which would be a huge problem for the president several months before new elections. Without Marshall, victory in them seemed much less realistic, and if he opposed Truman, there would be nothing to count on. The President hoped that Marshall would analyze the current situation again and again and perhaps change his mind. On the evening of May 14, the US Secretary of State called the President of the country and said that although he could not support the position that the President had decided to take, he would not publicly oppose it. “That,” Truman said, “is all we need.”26
By order of Truman, Clarke Clifford, together with representatives of the Jewish Agency in Washington, began urgently preparing documents for recognition of the new state. When they began to find out what documents and papers were needed for this, it turned out that no one knew this. The situation was unique - it was necessary to prepare for the recognition of a state that did not yet exist. Finally, some documents were prepared, but the name of the country in them remained empty - no one yet knew what the new state would be called.
At five forty-five in the evening on May 15, information was received in the US capital that at midnight Palestinian time, that is, in 15 minutes, the creation of Israel, the first Jewish state in two thousand years, would be proclaimed. The history of Palestine has changed dramatically once again. Eleven minutes after the proclamation, Truman signed a statement on his actual - “de facto” - recognition and ordered his delegation to the UN to be immediately informed about this. The American delegation, having received a telegram from Washington, decided that this was someone’s joke, and everyone began to laugh, but then, when it turned out that it was all serious, the intensity of indignation at the president’s decision reached the point that the delegates began to discuss the possibility of collective resignation. Future Secretary of State Dean Rusk, at Marshall's request, immediately flew to New York to dissuade them from this. However, the most famous member of the delegation, President Franklin Roosevelt's widow, Eleanor Roosevelt, resigned, and the head of the US delegation to the UN, Warren Austin, simply left his office without leaving any information about where he would be. Many expected that George Marshall would also resign, but he stopped all talk on this topic, saying that a responsible politician cannot resign just because the president, who, according to the country's Constitution, has the right to make decisions, accepted it . However, from that day until the end of his life, Marshall never spoke to Clark Clifford again. He resigned in January 1949 after Truman won the presidential election, citing poor health.
In Washington, at 2210 Massachusetts Avenue, where the Jewish Agency was located, a blue and white flag with a Star of David in the center was raised. In New York, real folk festivities and celebrations took place on the streets of the Bronx and Brooklyn. Synagogues across the country held special services. Chaim Weizmann became the President of Israel, David Ben-Gurion became the Prime Minister, and Eddie Jacobson became the first (unofficial) ambassador of the new state to the United States.
Although, as modern historians write, the president’s foreign policy advisers did not allow him to directly become the father of the new Jewish state, he certainly became its “midwife.” Israel's Chief Rabbi Isaac Halevi Herzog called the US President and said: "Mr. President, God placed you in your mother's womb to make you an instrument in the rebirth of Israel after two thousand years." Truman’s aide, who was present at this conversation, noted that “tears were rolling down the President’s cheeks.”27 On May 25, Chaim Weizmann visited the White House again - this time as President of Israel and received all the honors due to the head of an independent state. On the threshold of the White House, he handed the sacred Torah to a smiling Truman.
The United States was the first to recognize Israel, which ensured that the new state was quickly and successfully recognized by most countries of the world. Later, Truman was much accused of the fact that other UN member countries recognized Israel under his pressure. “I have never agreed with this practice,” he defended himself after his resignation, “where the strong force the weak to follow their will, both among people and among countries.
We helped Greece. In fact, we practically ensured the independence of the Philippines... However, we did not make these countries our satellites and did not force them to vote with us on the issue of the division of Palestine or any other issue. A policy that is worth calling itself American will never treat other countries as satellites. Democratic countries respect the opinions of others; this is the basis of their structure. No matter how strong or weak, rich or poor, these others may be.”
However, if the United States recognized Israel “de facto,” the USSR immediately decided not only on actual, but also full recognition of the new state, that is, “de jure.” The proclamation of Israel led to a new round of military clashes, which went down in history as the first of the future five Arab-Israeli wars. Already on the first day of the existence of the new state, it was attacked by Syria and Lebanon, and a day later by Iraq. However, when Israel was already under attack by the Arabs, the Truman administration refused for many months to lift its arms embargo on Israel and insisted at the UN that the solution to the Jewish question must be done diplomatically, through negotiations and compromises on the part of both Jews and Arabs .
Recognition of Israel was such a controversial decision by Truman that it not only did not bring him any domestic political benefit, but even complicated the position of the president in the 1948 elections. Truman was accused that recognition of Israel was not US policy, but the policy of the Democratic Party and the personal opinion of the president. At the height of the election campaign, speaking in New York, Truman said that “the topic of Israel should not be touched upon at all as a political topic in the framework of the election campaign. My personal responsibility then was to ensure that, firstly, our policy towards Israel coincided with our foreign policy in the world as a whole, and secondly, I sought to build a strong, prosperous state in Palestine, free enough and strong enough to to support and protect itself."
Truman never regretted the decisions he once made. He never regretted his insistence on immediate recognition of Israel. For him, it also meant the final decision about who would determine the foreign policy of the United States. In his memoirs, Truman later wrote: “The difficulty with many career government officials is that they come to see themselves as men who make policy and run government. They look down on elected officials as temporary figures. Every president in our history has faced the problem of how to ensure that career officials do not ignore his policies.
Too often career officials carry out their own views rather than implement the administration's policies... Some Presidents have solved this problem by creating their own small State Department. President Roosevelt did this and personally contacted Churchill and Stalin directly. I didn't want to follow this method. It is the State Department that was created to deal with foreign policy operations, and it should deal with them. But I wanted to make it completely clear to everyone that it is the President of the United States, and not the second or third tier of State Department officials, who makes policy.”28 Truman succeeded; he now completely concentrated foreign policy development in his own hands.
On January 25, 1949, the first democratic elections were held in Israel and only after that the United States recognized the new state “de jure.” In his letter to President Weizmann, Harry Truman, who had just won an extremely difficult presidential election, wrote in particular: “I understand my victory as a mandate from the American people to put into practice the platform of the Democratic Party, including, of course, support for the State of Israel.”29 Since then, support for Israel has become a permanent element of US foreign policy, and Israel has become a reliable ally of the United States and Western European countries. As for Harry Truman himself, today, after half a century, Americans confidently include him among the most outstanding presidents of the country in its entire history.
