Press+Release+Announcing+US+Recognition+of+Israel,+1948

= = Scott Abrahamson

 At midnight on May 14, 1948, the day the British Mandate of Palestine expired, David Ben Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the de-facto leader of the Jews in the mandate of Palestine proclaimed independence of the State of Israel and by doing so became Prime Minister. The land formerly under British control was divided by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 in to two provisional states, one Jewish and one Arab. This was a joyous day for the Jews of the world because they had not been able to rule themselves for about 2000 years, however the Arabs were not as pleased with the resolution because they held the belief that the entire mandate was rightfully theirs. To the chagrin of the Arabs however, the plan passed the UN vote with the United States voting in favor of the plan.



 =History= The Jews first arrived in what is now known as Israel, when it was known as Cana’an, between the 12th and 13th centuries B.C.¹  , however they did not have full control over the land until the 12th century B.C., and did not create what is known as their “United Kingdom” until the 10th century B.C.²    Ever since the Jews first arrived in Cana’an they have constantly inhabited the area³    despite many attempts by other nations including the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines and the Ottomans, to claim ownership of the land.⁴



Jewish presence in the land that is now known as Israel greatly decreased after the Romans destroyed the Jews’ Second Temple, and expelled many Jews following Bar Kochba’s revolt of 132 C.E. The Jews still remained a majority in the land despite many being expelled, however they had few rights and freedoms.⁵   Beginning in the 10th century CE many Jews started to return to what is now known as Israel mainly due to religious persecution and the emigration rate remained constant until about 1897, when the concept of Zionism was created.⁶  Zionism is a political movement that supports the right of the Jewish People to self-determination, started by Austro-Hungarian journalist Theodore Herzl. After its creation the number of immigrants to what was then Palestine greatly increased.⁷ 

In 1917 Chaim Weizmann, renowned scientist, statesperson, and Zionist, was able to convince the British government to issue a declaration favoring the creation of a Jewish state in the British Mandate of Palestine. This declaration, written by British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, later became known as the Balfour Declaration and gave a great deal of credibility to the Zionist ideology. The declaration was given to Baron Rothschild who in turn gave it to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, who spread word of the declaration to all of the Zionist Federations worldwide.

Following the Holocaust, the systematic genocide of over 6,000,000 Jews and millions of other races, many Jews felt that they could no longer live in Europe without being persecuted and that they needed a state to call their own. Because of this, interest in Zionism, and therefore interest in immigrating to Palestine soared to levels never seen before. In 1945 US President Harry S. Truman sent an investigator named Earl G. Harrison to Europe in order to probe the situation of the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. When Harrison returned to the United States he reported to President Truman that “ substantial unofficial and unauthorized movements of people (to Palestine) must be expected, and these will require considerable force to prevent, for the patience of many of the persons involved is, and in my opinion with justification, nearing the breaking point. It cannot be overemphasized that many of these people (the Jews) are now desperate, that they have become accustomed under German rule to employ every possible means to reach their end, and that the fear of death does not restrain them.” ⁸

This large influx of Jews to the mandate of Palestine influenced many Palestinians to have nativist mindsets. In 1929 Arab mobs started to kill innocent Jews out of frustration, and in response Jewish groups came together in order to do what they felt was necessary by defending their people. These clashes resulted not only in the deaths of many Arabs and Jews, but also a decent amount of British soldiers.⁹ In order to retard Jewish immigration to Palestine, the British issued the Passfield White Paper which greatly curtailed Jewish immigration.¹⁰ Many Jews still made attempts to immigrate, and while some made it to the shores of their homeland, most were caught by the British and put in to concentration camps on the island of Cyprus.¹¹   <span style="display: block; font-size: 110%; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: center;">Eventually the British came to the decision that they wanted to relieve themselves of the Arab-Jewish conflict so instead of splitting up Palestine themselves the British chose to appear neutral and give the land to the United Nations. The UN partitioned the land in to what would become two individual states, one Jewish and one Arab, with an international presence in the city of Jerusalem. The plan passed the UN vote obtaining a clear majority in favor of the plan. This was one of the few UN votes during this period where the United States and the USSR were in agreement, both voting in favor of the plan. The partition was set to take effect once the British Mandate for Palestine had expired on the 14th of May in the year 1948, and as soon as the mandate expired, David Ben Gurion declared over the radio the independence of the Jewish state. Simultaneously the Arab nations, which included Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and several smaller factions, declared war on the new Jewish state of Israel.

media type="youtube" key="B9OkKXdwi-Q" height="364" width="445" A clip showing the British departure from Palestine and a short excerpt of David Ben Gurion's broadcast declaring independence for Israel

= The Reaction of The United States of America = <span style="font-size: 80%; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> After the British instated a policy of restricted immigration for Jews, the Jews felt betrayed by the British after they had seemed to support their cause with the issuance of the Balfour Declaration. Looking for a powerful ally in the world, the Jews turned to the United States for support.

President Harry Truman, the President during the time when the State of Israel declared independence, favored the Jews over the Arabs in the dispute over land and accepted the Balfour Declaration saying that it was in line with former President Woodrow Wilson’s principle of “self-determination.” Also, as a result of President Wilson’s aforementioned probe President Roosevelt felt the Jews were oppressed and in need of a homeland. Britain’s concentration camps on the island of Cyprus most likely increased Truman’s feelings that the Jews were oppressed.¹² When David Ben Gurion declared independence for the State of Israel, the United States via President Truman was the first nation to extend de facto recognition to the government of the new Jewish State, issuing a press release 11 minutes after Ben Gurion’s broadcast.¹³ Transcript of Press Release Announcing U.S. Recognition of Israel (1948)

"This Government has been informed that a Jewish state has been proclaimed in Palestine, and recognition has been requested by the provisional Government thereof.

The United States recognizes the provision government as the de facto authority of the new State of Israel.

Harry Truman

Approved, May 14, 1948."



=Possible Controversy= On the issue of recognizing Israel, there were some people such as Secretary of State at the time, George Marshall, who believed it was not a good idea to recognize the new Jewish State for fear of backlash by the Arabs. Secretary of State Marshall was also afraid that the Arabs and the Soviet Union might form an alliance. The fear was that this alliance would not only strengthen the Soviet Union's influence on the world, but also may jeopardize the United State's access to Middle Eastern oil.¹⁴ Oil was, and still is critical to the growing industrial economy of the United States and any threat to the lifeblood of the economy could be devastating. Luckily, the Arabs did not cut off oil supplies to the US when the United States recognized Israel, and even if they did the United States had other sources of oil around the world and at home. Out of frustration Marshall had also accused President Truman of recognizing Israel because of his desire to get the Jewish vote in the upcoming election, and told President Truman that his decision should be based on facts, not emotions. President Truman had also believed that creating a Jewish state was the best way to resettle Jewish refugees that had lost their homes and livelihoods in World War II. Yet for some critics, such as Marshall, the resettling of refugees and helping them build up their livelihoods was not worth upsetting the Arabs.¹⁵

=  media type="youtube" key="IYdGcojkMD0" height="364" width="445" President Truman vs. Secretary of State Marshall on the recognition of Israel  =

=Significance in American History=

By recognizing the State of Israel, the United States made an ally with whom they would have a greater relationship with than most if not all of their other allies. The United States now has a democratic ally in the Middle East with whom they have shared great cooperation in both the military and civilian sector. Joint American-Israeli ventures have brought about amazing successes such as the cell phone, anti-ballistic missile systems, mutual security agreements, a free trade agreement, medical breakthroughs and many other innovations that have been brought about by the strong United States - Israel relationship.

On a scale from 1-100, the United States' press release announcing the recognition of Israel would rank 22nd (with 1 being most important), because while it was not a major domestic change for America it has brought about great achievements that have benefited the United States and the world in general. Furthermore, joint US-Israel programs have brought about a safer, better world to live in, and subsequently a safer and more prosperous America.¹⁶ Also, had the United States not recognized Israel, and the USSR was the only superpower to do so, the world as we know it may be very different due to the cooperation that the Soviets would have had with Israel and the rest of the Middle East, leaving America "in the dust" in the region.

=Compare and Contrast the Press Release Announcing US Recognition of Israel to the= =Transcript of John Glenn's Official Communication with the Command Center=

When John Glenn blasted in to orbit around Earth on February 20th, 1962, he was not just carrying himself but the hope of an entire nation, just as David Ben Gurion had done when he declared independence for the new Jewish State, the State of Israel. Both of these events not only gave new hope to people around the globe, but they both also helped to give the United States of America an edge over the USSR. In the space race every extra inch counted and when John Glenn had successfully orbited the Earth and had come home safely the confidence of the American people rose and told the world that America was a force to be reckoned with, just in case any country had not thought so already. By acknowledging the State of Israel, the United States stepped ahead of the Soviet Union in a different field, influence in the Middle East. While the Soviet Union fervently tried to get Israel on its side, in the end America eventually won out and gained a democratic ally in the Middle East.¹⁷





The difference between these two great historic events is that while John Glenn orbiting the Earth gave the United States an edge in the field of space exploration, the United State's strong relationship with Israel gave the US an advantage in many fields such as medicine, defense, and energy, as well as space exploration.¹⁸ Due to the fact that the United State's relationship with Israel has benefitted the United States in more ways than John Glenn orbiting the Earth, it seems that while both events are beneficial to the United States, the strategic relationship that Israel and the United States share surpasses the impact of John Glenn's space flight.

=Political Cartoon=

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> References: <span style="text-align: left; display: block; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"> ¹ Kitchen, Kenneth A. (2003), "On the Reliability of the Old Testament" (Grand Rapids, Michigan. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company)[|ISBN 0-8028-4960-1] <span style="display: block; font-size: 70%; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; display: block; text-align: left;">² http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/17/MNS314468L.DTL ³Palestine Royal Commission Report (London, 1937), pp. 2-5, 7, 9, particularly p. 11, para. 23. ⁴http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/courses/helps/TimeLines ⁵ http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Aliyah/About+Israel/History/Third+Article.htm <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> ⁶ C.D. Smith, 2001, 'Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict', 4th ed., <span style="text-decoration: none; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 80%;">[|ISBN 0-312-20828-6], p. 1-12, 33-38 <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; display: block; text-align: left;"> ⁷ http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/concepts/aliyah3.html ⁸ http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/documents/harrison_report.htm <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> ⁹ Great Britain, 1930 : Report of the Commission on the disturbances of August 1929, Command paper 3530 (Shaw Commission report). ¹⁰ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/445739/Passfield-White-Paper ¹¹ New York Times 31/3/1947 page 4 "Cyprus Detainees Resent Laxity of British to German Prisoners" ¹² http://www.classbrain.com/artteenst/publish/article_118.shtml ¹³ http://www.trumanlibrary.org/israel/palestin.htm ¹⁴ http://www.trumanlibrary.org/israel/palestin.htm ¹⁵ Clifford, Clark; Richard Holbrooke (1991). Counsel to the President. New York: Random House. <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; text-align: left; display: inline !important;">[|ISBN 0394569954] <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; text-align: left; font-size: 110%;">¹⁶ http://israel-institute.com/media/US%20%20Israel%20Energy%20Cooperation.pdf http://www.mops.gov.il/BPEng/OnTheAgenda/Israel-USAcollaboration/ http://www.personnelcoop.org/membersonly/Israel.pdf http://untreaty.un.org/unts/60001_120000/6/14/00010672.pdf ¹⁷ http://www.classbrain.com/artteenst/publish/article_120.shtml ¹⁸ http://www.nclci.org/News/usisraeli_partnership.htm <span style="text-align: left; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">