501.BB Palestine/11–1748: Telegram
The Special Representative of the United States in Israel (McDonald) to the Acting Secretary of State
us urgent
260. Personal Attention President and Acting Secretary. On eve my departure for Paris President Weizmann invited me personal conference at luncheon his residence and requested I transmit his views on Bunche Negev resolution:
“I am, as you know,” said Weizmann “moderate, conciliatory and friend Britain, but I know Israel will never surrender Negev; instead every Jew there will resist to death.” He stated that “Britain’s policy since President Truman proposed large scale Jewish refugee immigration into Palestine in 1945 has successively been based on series of [Page 1607] gross miscalculations: First, that Israel could not finance war with Arabs; second, that Israel could not resist Arabs who would drive the Jews into sea; third, and currently, that Israel is in the hands of Russians.”
Weizmann declared: Last accusation is as groundless as were earlier British misjudgments; that Israel is oriented towards the West, desires to retain closest possible US contacts because Israeli democratic and western-minded and realize that only with cooperation of US can this nation develop and remain free. It welcomes Russian support in UN but dreads Russian embrace. Russian influence can become dangerous here only if UN with US support humiliates and sacrifices Israel to British imperial interests. “I plead”, concluded Weizmann, “with President Truman whose prestige among us is incomparably higher than that of any other foreign statesman, to save us from desperation.”
Weizmann’s consistent reputation for moderation lends special significance to above views.1
- Shertok had expressed similar views to McDonald at a luncheon on November 14. (Telegram 256, November 15, 4 p. m. from Tel Aviv, 501.BB Palestine/11–548)↩