TRUMAN'S VIRTUOUS DECISION MAY 14, 1948

A Virtuous Decision - Harry Truman’s Decision to Recognize Israel.

Prelude

This short review about the role President Harry Truman played in the recognition of Israel as an independent State I believe is important and historically accurate. His actions placed Israel on the world map. However, the most fascinating aspect of this story is how improbable the circumstances were that placed Harry Truman in that position, at that time.

Harry Truman was a relatively unknown senator from Missouri. He was not President Franklin Roosevelt’s first choice for a running mate--he was way down on the list. Yet Truman was chosen for the role of Vice President. In unforeseen circumstances, President Roosevelt would die a few short months after his re-election, elevating Harry Truman to the office of President of the United States, while war raged in Europe and in the Pacific. Putting it mildly, Truman’s learning curve was steep and emergent. He was forced to make unprecedented and world altering decisions during World War II —decisions instrumental in bringing WWII to a close.

In May of 1948 events arose that brought about the miraculous re-formation of the State of Israel. Several nations refused to recognize the State of Israel. However, Truman’s confident assent to the world, recognizing Israel as a possible country, brought Israel onto the world stage. How did this strong-minded little man from Missouri become such a pivotal influence in so many momentous world events? It was a melding of circumstance and God’s placement of a God-fearing, unassuming man. Harry Truman was a man who always strove to do what was honest and right. The Book of Esther says “(s)he was born for such a time as this.” (1 – Esther 4:14.) Harry S. Truman was undeniably born and used by God for his time and high place.

Truman’s Prayer

Harry S. Truman, (1884 – 1972) at the age of eighteen years old had written down a prayer, which he carried with him in his wallet, and which he read once every day:

“Oh! Almighty and Everlasting God, Creator of Heaven, Earth and the Universe: Help me to be, think, to act what is right, because it is right; make me truthful, honest and honorable in all things; make me intellectually honest for the sake of right and honor and without thought of reward to me. Give me the ability to be charitable, forgiving and patient with my fellowmen – help me understand their motives and their shortcomings – even as Thou understandest mine! Amen, Amen, Amen.” (2 – Merkley.)

Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel

“The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values for national and universal significance and gave the world the eternal Book of Books.

After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.”

Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (1^st two paragraphs)

May 14, 1948 (3 – State of Israel.)

Partition of Palestine Agreed Upon by UN Just Six Months Before

Through a vote on UN Resolution 181 at the United Nations on November 29, 1947, it was determined the Jewish people had the right to establish a sovereign country in Palestine. The voting took place on Resolution 181 with 33 countries agreeing to partition, 11 against, and 10 abstaining with 1 absent. Following the vote, it was determined the land would be partitioned between the Jews and the Arabs. The mandate would take effect at the stroke of midnight on May 14, 1948, the date the British were set to leave Palestine. Roughly half the Palestinian land would be ruled by Arabic leaders and the other half would be ruled by Jewish leaders. (4 – UN Resolution 181.) Fighting between Jews and Arabs increased in intensity in Palestine during the remainder of 1947 and into the Spring of 1948. The Arabs made known the plan for partition was not an acceptable solution.

The geographic division of the land, according to the UN, established physical boundaries for the Jewish country and would include roughly about 630,000 Jews, and 1.2 million Arabs. (5 – Bachi.) Additionally, the Jewish people were surrounded by over 30 million potential enemies found within six surrounding countries primarily Muslim - Arabic (Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.) (6 – Clifford.) Following the UN vote, Jewish leadership enthusiastically endorsed the UN’s partition plan. However, Arab leadership did not accept the partition arrangement, and Arabs started to infiltrate Palestine to prepare for war.

On May 14, 1948, at 6:11 p.m. (EST), Pres. Harry S. Truman recognized the Zionist state, eleven minutes after its formation. By doing so he instilled and rekindled hope in the hearts of the Jewish people. Jewish people had reason to hope in their sovereign choices over the land, and their desires for a homeland were honored by the most powerful man in the world. The Jewish people envisioned freedom from further persecution after surviving the harrowing days of the Holocaust. Jews would have control over their own religious and political interests, a first for almost two millennia. As Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, stated “In Israel, to be a realist, you must believe in miracles!” (7 – Gordis.)

Truman’s Faith and Optimism Caused Him to Recognize the Jewish State

Harry Truman understood what the land of Israel meant to the Jewish people and recognized their history in the region. From the time of Abraham, and with expulsion by the Romans, a time spanning almost 4000 years, the Jewish people had desired to occupy the land. He recognized their history was more than 4,000 years, Harry Truman recognized this and made a moral choice in affirming the Jewish state. He had a placard on his desk, which was a quote from Mark Twain, “Do the right thing. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” (8 – Twain)

Additionally, Truman had faith and was optimistic this plan would work, as it seemed obvious to him, God’s providence was evident. “It is hard not to see this return as the hand of God’s further fulfillment of his promises to Israel.” (9 –Ferguson) The return of the Jewish people to the land at this time seemed like the prophecies of restoration were occurring.

Truman prayerfully considered his role in helping the Jewish nation. By recognizing this nation, he could attempt to right many of the wrongs which had been committed against this people, most recently with the Holocaust in Europe.

Harry Truman had to Oppose the State Department

During the beginning of 1948, Harry Truman dealt with the Foreign Service Officers of the US State Department. A confrontation was shaping up over US foreign policy between Truman and the State Department regarding the possible Jewish State. The elitist career diplomats within the State Department, were opposed to the President’s position and tried to derail any attempts to support the Jews. For example, in March 1948, the United States UN representative, Warren Austin, a State Dept. official, went public with a new plan for a temporary UN “Trusteeship” over Palestine. (10 – McCullough.) Austin made it seem this change was supported by the President. In truth, Truman wrote in his diary that the State Dept. bureaucrats had been out to get him, and he considered this one of the worst days of his life. (11 – M. Truman.)

The stage was set for the confrontation on May 12, 1948, Harry Truman would have to stand up to the United States’ most popular war hero from World War II, General George C. Marshall. The showdown of divergent ideas would be held in the Presidential working quarters. The President wanted to convince Gen. Marshall to accept the inevitability of a homeland for the Jewish people. (12 – Clifford.) However, this would be an uphill battle, as Gen. Marshall, and the “Wise Men” (13 – Clifford.) of the State Department were adept at providing strategic reasons for their positions. Marshall and the State Department were sure the Jewish state was a mere pipedream and would not survive more than a few days due to the military might of their Arab opponents. (14 – Clifford.)

This issue was the only foreign policy issue in which Truman did not have Marshall’s support. During the previous years, Truman’s working relationship with Marshall was one of a trusted ally, as shown by the remarkable Truman Doctrine (helping Greek and Turkish democracies survive with US aid money) and the Marshall Plan (helping war torn European countries with the most far-reaching act of practical minded generosity in history giving $17 billion in aid.) (15 – Scarborough). However, Truman would not have Marshall’s support here.

Truman Relied upon His Own Inner Compass Set on a Higher Good

Michael Benson, author of Harry S. Truman and the State of Israel emphatically opines Truman’s support of the Zionist cause “was due to attitudes Truman developed as a young man in Missouri as a result of an upbringing heavily influenced by the Bible…Truman’s response to the Palestine question, therefore, was a cultural response as well as a political response. And it was an ethical, moral, and religious response…Upon careful analysis, one will see that Harry S. Truman sensed something profound and meaningful in the Jewish restoration that transcended other considerations.” (16 – Benson)

Most citizens in the US at that time based their worldview on the Bible, Truman included. Truman was a fundamentalist and read the Bible literally. (17 – Von Buserk) He coveted following Biblical ideals and virtues by adhering to the tenets of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” found in the Gospel of Matthew, including loving your injured neighbor, as taught in the parable of the Good Samaritan, helping the meek and the lowly; and striving to be peacemakers. Therefore, Truman believed he was doing his duty and fulfilling God’s plan, by recognizing Israel and the Jewish state.

Truman was a voracious reader and an avid historian, but his initial theological and ethical ideals had been formulated due to teaching and training in his Baptist and Presbyterian Sunday Schools. “The Bible provided him with an indispensable set of values without which he would have been lost. It was a moral guide, one that he tried to adhere to – in his own way – throughout his life.” (18 – Benson) Truman, was not a complex man, he wanted to do the right thing at all times.

Truman was Well Versed in Judeo-Christian Teaching

Even though Truman had little formal education, he had a firm grasp on history. “Whenever he commented on the background to the Palestine question whether privately or publicly, Truman always took the trouble to set up a preface for his position by offering a synopsis of the uniquely long history of the Jewish people, drawing on the Biblical story and also upon the secular world into which Israel had been born.” (19 – Merkley) This provided Truman with the essence of many issues he was confronted with, especially in the Middle East. He knew it was a complex situation, but he believed the Jewish people deserved a safe harbor, a place of respite after so many years of persecution.

The Patriarch Abraham of the Jewish People had been “Promised” This Land

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Gen. 12:1-3

Jews and Christians (and Muslims too) rely on Abraham as the initial believer in God and Father of their respective faiths. Abraham is honored because of his faith - he believed God would do what he said he would do. Abraham would be the father of a great nation, and his people were to receive this “Promised Land”.

And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Gen. 15:6

Further, the Bible reveals the Jews, as God’s “Chosen People”, received God’s ordinances and his declarations. Paul, an apostle of Jesus, concurred in 2 Tim. 3:16 - “All scripture is God breathed” – meaning God provided inspiration and the actual words to the authors as God provided the content.

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Romans 15:4-7

The idea that God would send a Savior to restore His Kingdom is found repeatedly in Hebrew Scriptures. The Scriptures are also replete with restoration language, speaking of how God will return the Israelites to their former land and redeem them from their exile through a Messiah. Many Christians and Jews of the late 1940’s believed this promise was coming to fruition before their very eyes.

Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Ezekiel 11:17-20

For those with Judeo-Christian beliefs, it is understood God will provide providential care for his people. Christians believe the truth in the gospels that Jesus was the promised Lord and Messiah. The Messiah was to be the bringer of hope and would be the Savior of the world. The Messiah’s lineage could be traced directly from the Tribe of Judah, Judah being the great-grandson of Abraham. The overlap between the Jews returning to the land and the Messianic promises being fulfilled are many. Reestablishing the Jewish State after almost two millennia must be considered remarkable and meaningful to a God who loves his people.

Truman was Presented with a Predicament and Ethical Choice

Events[e1] in 1948 occurred approximately 4,000 years after the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that their lineage would inherit the land. In the 20^th century. These promises made to the Patriarchs were used as an ultimate reason with precedential authority by President’s counsel, when dealing with the State Department regarding this difficult foreign policy question – whether to recognize the Zionist state.

Clark Clifford, an advisor to President Harry S. Truman, relied on and quoted Deuteronomy 1:8 (below) which discusses giving the land to the Hebrews, when he explained to the formidable Secretary of State George Marshall the right of the Jewish people to their land. Clifford, on behalf of President Truman, contended the United States should honor the Jews’ return and the Biblical covenant made to the Israelites by God of “an everlasting possession.” This would be shown by recognizing the new government being formed in the land. (20 – Von Buseck)

See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

Deuteronomy 1:8

Harry Truman’s Reasons Why the United States Should Recognize Israel

Truman’s desired to support the Jewish state, but he was treading on uncertain territory in confronting Marshall. Truman was getting close to making a final decision and he wanted to do the right thing. At the meeting, Clifford articulated the reasons representing the President’s position for the support of *Israel. But to Truman, it revolved around the morality of protecting the Jewish people and following through on his promises.

1. Negotiating efforts had proven futile and there was no truce at the present time between the Arabs and the Jews in Palestine, despite the attempts of the State Dept. and the UN;
2. Establishment of a Trusteeship over Palestine was not feasible as this would require one entity, over the entire land and this was not realistic. The Arabs and Jews were already fighting from the territory they each had been assigned;
3. Prompt recognition of the new Jewish State would bolster its credibility and would strengthen the President’s position of the partition of Palestine;
4. Harry Truman should make a statement regarding the recognition of the Jewish state the next day as it appears they are complying with the UN provision for a democratic government;
5. It was time to enforce and follow-through on the Balfour Declaration (Nov. 1917) which promised a home for the Jews made over 30 years before; and,
6. The United States has a great moral obligation to oppose and prevent discrimination such as that inflicted upon the Jewish people. There must be a safe haven for these people.
7. The national interests of the United States would benefit by having a stable, democratically elected government in the region.

(21 – Clifford)

Truman believed that the US should follow through on the moral duty on behalf of the American people. To protect the weary, the downtrodden, and the ones who had lost so much in World War II. With over 1/3 of the entire Jewish population eradicated from the face of the earth. The numbers are staggering with 6.6 million of 10.4 million Jewish people killed in Europe. (22 – AICE.)

He wanted to do what was honorable and charitable, fair and correct. According to Benson, “(f)or Truman, the explanation for his actions was even more simple: he was more concerned with the righting of a historic wrong than anything else.” (23 – Benson.)

As a compassionate person and President, Truman’s actions reflected Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address in March 1865, with the infamous line – “With malice toward none, and charity towards all”. This was when the Civil War was drawing to a close, the Union and the South were still at war. Truman wanted to act similarly as a humanitarian President.

[e2] Standing on His Morality and Virtue – To Do the Right Thing

Truman, as a believer in God’s providence, believed the difficult circumstances could be used for good, even in the face of daunting odds. Truman was aware that hundreds of thousand Jews wanted to immigrate to Israel. The Jewish displaced persons would be allowed access to a Jewish country. While Palestine was under British rule, immigration was limited.

Many Americans are familiar with the famous inscription on the Statue of Liberty which states in part:

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”.

The New Colossus (poem’s excerpt) - Emma Lazarus (1883).

Truman was empathetic and understood the Jewish people had nowhere else to go - they merely wanted to return to what they considered their homeland. Additionally, theologian John Frame states, “(w)hat the New Testament adds, is an emphasis on showing love to those outside our own community. The Mosaic law does extend the commandment of love to “strangers” people sojourning within Israel (Lev. 19:34). But it is the New Testament that extends the covenant community to all nations. The Great Commission mandates love to all peoples as we bring good news to them. So we are to be neighbors to anyone in our path who is in need, as was the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. The Samaritan did not impose any religious or ethnic test on the victim of the robbery; he simply loved him.” (25 – Frame.) Truman undoubtedly felt he was providing a life-saving opportunity for the Jews.

You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 19:34

President Harry S. Truman Recognized the Jewish State

“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 provisional government as the de facto authority of the new State of Israel.”

Signed, Harry S. Truman. Approved 6:11 (p.m.). (May 14, 1948)

The formation of the nation-state of Israel was a modern miracle, as over 2,000 years had elapsed since Israel had been a sovereign state. The Jews had dispersed throughout the world, when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.

In a recent conversation with Moshe Meron Medzini, who was communication director for four Israeli Prime Ministers, he was asked the question “(d)id Christians help in the formation of the State of Israel?” He responded, “(w)ithout Christians it would have been much harder and more difficult to establish the State of Israel.” He continued, “Because of Harry Truman’s beliefs –– As a man and President of the US who understood and comprehended the Jews with their land – Israeli people – Jewish people and the land – there is a significant relationship between the Jewish people and the land. “Because of his knowledge starting with Sunday School teaching, Truman understood this relationship.” Moshe Meron Medzini – March 29, 2023. Medzini points out the absolute linkage the Jewish people feel towards the land, and this would be restoring them and a small attempt at redemption.

Conclusion

Harry S. Truman’s Christian upbringing, helped in the formation of Israel through theological underpinnings of the belief in restorationism and through choices he made, and encouraged others to make, espousing Christian virtues and ethics.

In the Spring of 1949, Harry Truman was recognized by Jewish leaders for his role. Chief Rabbi Isaac Halevi Herzog, met with Truman at the White House. When Truman asked Herzog if he knew what he had done for the refugees and the state of Israel, Herzog replied, “that when the President was still in his mother’s womb…the Lord had bestowed upon him the mission of helping his Chosen People at a time of despair and aiding in the fulfillment of His promise of Return to the Holy Land.”

Herzog and Truman continued in conversation regarding how King Cyrus of Persia had stated “The Lord God of heaven hath…charged me to build him a House at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” Truman inquired if this related to his own actions. The Rabbi followed up with this statement “he (Truman) had been given the task once fulfilled by the mighty king of Persia, and that he too, like Cyrus, would occupy a place of honor in the annals of the Jewish people.

Further “God put you in your mother’s womb,” Herzog continued, “so you would be the instrument to bring the birth of Israel after two thousand years.” (26 – Von Buseck.) Truman was moved to tears by the Rabbi’s comments. He later was able to tell others “I Am Cyrus” (27 – Radosh) but at the time, he could rest assured he had done all he could for the Jews in light of the many obstacles placed in his way.

1. Book of Esther, Holy Bible, English Standard Version, Crossway Publishing, 2008 (All Bible quotes from ESV unless stated otherwise.)
2. Paul Charles Merkley, American Presidents, Religion, and Israel, Prager, 2004, p. 5.
3. Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, public domain.
4. UN Resolution 181 – https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-185393/ accessed 9/10/2023.
5. Roberto Bachi, Population of Israel, 1974 study.
6. Clark Clifford, Counsel to the President, Random House, 1991, p. 6, quoting US Secretary of Defense, James Forrestal.
7. David Ben Gurion, Daniel Gordis - Interview on CBS 10/5/1956.
8. Mark Twain – Do the right thing. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. Placard on Truman’s desk.
9. Sinclair Ferguson, Editor, Dictionary of Theology, Inter-Varsity Press, 1988, p. 345.
10. David McCullough, Truman, Simon and Schuster, 1992, pp. 609-610.
11. Margaret S, Truman, Harry S, Truman, pp. 416-419.
12. Clifford, p. 6.
13. Clifford, p. 4.
14. Clifford, p. 4.
15. Joe Scarborough, Saving Freedom, Harper Books, 2021, p. 204.
16. Michael T, Benson, Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel, Prager Publishers, 1997, p. 9.
17. Dr. Craig von Buseck, I Am Cyrus, Straight Street Books, 2019. pp. 523–524.
18. Benson, pp. 30–33.
19. Merkley, p. 4.
20. Von Buseck, p. 523.
21. Clifford, supra, pp. 11-12.
22. Jewish Virtual Library, American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (hereafter cited as AICE), 2023, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/estimated-number-of-jews-killed-in-the-final-solution.
23. Benson, p. 7.
24. Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus, 1883.
25. John Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life, P&R Publishing, p. 691.
26. Von Buseck, pp. 523-524.
27. Allis Radosh and Ronald Radosh, A Safe Haven, Harper Perennial, 2009, pp. 345-346.

[e1]New Testament believers hold that God sent His Son so we may live more abundantly. To live in a way that honors Him and follow his teaching of what it means to be a true disciple and how one should follow after God.

[e2]MOTIVE

(Para on morality – virtue – religious – culture – helping people…)