Golda Meir |
A few minutes after midnight on the night of 14 May, my phone rang.
It had been ringing all evening, and as I ran to answer it, I wonder what bad news I would hear now.
But the voice at the other end of the phone sounded jubilant. “Golda? Are you listening? Truman has recognised us!” I can’t remember what I said or did, but I remember how I felt.
It was like a miracle coming at the time of our greatest vulnerability, on the eve of the invasion, and I was filled with joy and relief.
In a way, though all Israel rejoiced and gave thanks, I think that what President Truman did that night may have meant more to me than most of my colleagues because I was the “American” among us, the one who knew most about the United States, its history and its people, the only one who had grown up in that great democracy.
And although I was as astonished as everyone else by the speed of the recognition, I was not at all surprised by the generous and good impulse that had brought about.
In retrospect, I think that like most miracles this was probably triggered by two very simple things: the fact that Harry Truman understood and respected our drive for independence because he was the sort of man who, under different circumstances, might well have been one of us himself; and the profound impression made upon him by Chaim Weizmann, whom he had received in Washington and who had pleaded our cause and explained our situation in a way that no one had ever done in the White House before.
Weizman’s work was of incalculable value. American recognition was the greatest thing that could have happened to us that night.
Source: Meir, G (1975). My Life. Weidenfeld & Nicholson. London. Page 188.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Golda Meir was an Israeli teacher, kibbutznik, stateswoman, politician and the fourth Prime Minister of Israel.
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