501.BB Palestine/4–2649
The President of Israel (Weizmann) to President Truman
My Dear Mr. President: Our meeting yesterday was a memorable occasion and again, on behalf of my government and myself, I thank you for your hospitality and profound understanding.
Because of the peace negotiations about to begin in Lausanne, I was especially heartened by your observations regarding the admission of Israel to the United Nations. So long as the Arab governments seek by political means to destroy the elements of stability in the present situation, neither Israel nor the Arab peoples will be free to turn their energies to peaceful development. No single act, in my judgment, will contribute so much to the pacification of the Middle East, as the speedy admission of Israel to the United Nations, and the withdrawal of this final act of recognition from the arena of political debate.
I was also extremely happy to learn that you were familiar with the position of my government on the question of Jerusalem. As I stated last Saturday, although Israel bears a direct and inescapable responsibility for Jewish Jerusalem, I am satisfied that there is no real incompatibility between the interests and concerns of Christianity, to which His Holiness the Pope has recently given eloquent expression, [Page 948] and the aspirations of the people of Jerusalem to assure their government and security in conformity with their national allegiance. I firmly believe that a harmonious solution of this problem can swiftly be secured with international consent. The concern which you expressed and the considerations which you emphasized lend added force to the urgency for a speedy and broadly acceptable solution.
I stress again that we are fully mindful of the problem of the Arab refugees and of our own obligations toward them. But, except to a limited degree, the answer lies, as I stated, not in repatriation but in resettlement. As a scientist and a student of the problem, I know the possibilities of development of the Middle East. I have long felt that the underpopulated and fertile acres in the river valleys of Iraq constitute both a seductive invitation to neighboring countries and a massive opportunity for development and progress in the Middle East. Similar opportunities exist also in northern Syria and western Transjordan. In that development the government of Israel will make its contribution.
For all that you have done, Mr. President, in facilitating the establishment and recognition of my country—beginning with your plea for the admission of 100,000 Jewish refugees—I again express the profound gratitude and thanks of the people of Israel. Your leadership has been a source of inspiration and encouragement to us. And under your leadership I look forward in the long future to warm and friendly relationships between the government of the United States and the government of Israel.1
Yours sincerely,
- President Truman sent a brief acknowledgment on April 27, in
which he expressed his appreciation of “your frank conversations
in regard to things pending with regard to Israel.
“I hope everything will work out in a satisfactory manner and we can eventually get a lasting peace in the Middle East.”
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