Potus Geeks Summer Reruns: Harry Truman and the State of Israel
[Originally posted on February 21, 2017 as part of our "Presidents and Immigration" series.]
In his brilliant recent book 1944: FDR and the Year that Changed History, (reviewed here) author Jay Winick is critical of Franklin Delano Roosevelt for his failure to do more to prevent the slaughter of Jews during the second world war. Harry Truman was more sympathetic to the plight of European Jews who had suffered under Hitler. As President he faced political opposition and lacked the support in Congress to increase immigration quotas for Jews as refugees. As early as 1943, he had called for the creation of a new homeland for them. When Truman became President in April of 1945, the opportunity arose for him to do more than just give lip service to the concept of a Jewish homeland.
Truman had taken an interest in the history of the Middle East for a long time, and as a senator he had public announced his support for Zionism. The notion of a homeland in Palestine for Jews who were refugees from the Nazis was opposed by many in Roosevelt's State Department, including Assistant Secretary of State Breckenridge Long. According to Jay Winik, these men willfully obstructed the provision of aid and rescue to European Jews who were bound for Hitler's Death Camps. They not only sought to prevent the release of news about the atrocities being committed, but also threatened those who tried to bring these atrocities to the world's attention. They prevented the immigration of Jews fleeing the death camps from coming to the United States and other safe havens, prevented military aid that could have been accomplished with little effort, and ran bureaucratic interference on those seeking to provide rescue and humanitarian aid to the persecuted. As Winik points out, it was a national disgrace.
When Truman became President, many of these same State Department officials were reluctant to offend the Arab nations, who were opposed to the establishment of a Jewish state in the large region long populated and dominated culturally by Arabs. Secretary of Defense James Forrestal warned Truman of the importance of Saudi Arabian oil, something that the United States would sorely need in the event of another war. To his credit, Truman decided his position on the issue on moral grounds rather than economic or military ones. He was also met with resistance from American diplomats with experience in the region, but Truman held to his principles on the issue.
Truman's motives were not entirely altruistic. Palestine was necessary to the goal of protecting the region comprised of Greece, Turkey, and Iran from Communism, as promised in his famous Truman Doctrine. Truman was frustrated by both the competing politics of the Middle East and pressures by Jewish leaders, and for a time he was undecided on his policy. When he decided to support the creation of Israel, he later credited as a factor in his recognition of the Jewish state the advice of his former business partner, Eddie Jacobson, a non-religious Jew whom Truman absolutely trusted.
Truman decided to recognize Israel above the objections of Secretary of State George Marshall, who was worried that doing so would hurt relations with the populous Arab states. Marshall believed the paramount threat to the U.S. was the Soviet Union and he was concerned that Arab oil would be lost to the United States in the event that the United States went to war with the Soviets. He warned Truman that the U.S. was "playing with fire with nothing to put it out".
Despite a glut of advice to the contrary, Truman recognized the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, eleven minutes after Israel declared itself a nation. In his memoirs, Truman wrote:
"Hitler had been murdering Jews right and left. I saw it, and I dream about it even to this day. The Jews needed some place where they could go. It is my attitude that the American government couldn't stand idly by while the victims of Hitler's madness are not allowed to build new lives."
The photograph above shows Truman in the Oval Office, receiving a Hanukkah Menorah from the Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion (center). To the right is Abba Eban, Ambassador of Israel to the U.S.
In his brilliant recent book 1944: FDR and the Year that Changed History, (reviewed here) author Jay Winick is critical of Franklin Delano Roosevelt for his failure to do more to prevent the slaughter of Jews during the second world war. Harry Truman was more sympathetic to the plight of European Jews who had suffered under Hitler. As President he faced political opposition and lacked the support in Congress to increase immigration quotas for Jews as refugees. As early as 1943, he had called for the creation of a new homeland for them. When Truman became President in April of 1945, the opportunity arose for him to do more than just give lip service to the concept of a Jewish homeland.
Truman had taken an interest in the history of the Middle East for a long time, and as a senator he had public announced his support for Zionism. The notion of a homeland in Palestine for Jews who were refugees from the Nazis was opposed by many in Roosevelt's State Department, including Assistant Secretary of State Breckenridge Long. According to Jay Winik, these men willfully obstructed the provision of aid and rescue to European Jews who were bound for Hitler's Death Camps. They not only sought to prevent the release of news about the atrocities being committed, but also threatened those who tried to bring these atrocities to the world's attention. They prevented the immigration of Jews fleeing the death camps from coming to the United States and other safe havens, prevented military aid that could have been accomplished with little effort, and ran bureaucratic interference on those seeking to provide rescue and humanitarian aid to the persecuted. As Winik points out, it was a national disgrace.
When Truman became President, many of these same State Department officials were reluctant to offend the Arab nations, who were opposed to the establishment of a Jewish state in the large region long populated and dominated culturally by Arabs. Secretary of Defense James Forrestal warned Truman of the importance of Saudi Arabian oil, something that the United States would sorely need in the event of another war. To his credit, Truman decided his position on the issue on moral grounds rather than economic or military ones. He was also met with resistance from American diplomats with experience in the region, but Truman held to his principles on the issue.
Truman's motives were not entirely altruistic. Palestine was necessary to the goal of protecting the region comprised of Greece, Turkey, and Iran from Communism, as promised in his famous Truman Doctrine. Truman was frustrated by both the competing politics of the Middle East and pressures by Jewish leaders, and for a time he was undecided on his policy. When he decided to support the creation of Israel, he later credited as a factor in his recognition of the Jewish state the advice of his former business partner, Eddie Jacobson, a non-religious Jew whom Truman absolutely trusted.
Truman decided to recognize Israel above the objections of Secretary of State George Marshall, who was worried that doing so would hurt relations with the populous Arab states. Marshall believed the paramount threat to the U.S. was the Soviet Union and he was concerned that Arab oil would be lost to the United States in the event that the United States went to war with the Soviets. He warned Truman that the U.S. was "playing with fire with nothing to put it out".
Despite a glut of advice to the contrary, Truman recognized the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, eleven minutes after Israel declared itself a nation. In his memoirs, Truman wrote:
"Hitler had been murdering Jews right and left. I saw it, and I dream about it even to this day. The Jews needed some place where they could go. It is my attitude that the American government couldn't stand idly by while the victims of Hitler's madness are not allowed to build new lives."
The photograph above shows Truman in the Oval Office, receiving a Hanukkah Menorah from the Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion (center). To the right is Abba Eban, Ambassador of Israel to the U.S.