Bob McCarty Writes

Sixty years ago at midnight, the State of Israel came into being and was immediately recognized by the United States and the Soviet Union. In his American Minute entry for May 14, 1948.

A homeland for the thousands of Jews who were persecuted and displaced during World War II, Israel was attacked the next day by the Transjordanian Army, the Arab Legion, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. Against all odds, Israel survived.

On Nov. 29, 1948, President Harry S Truman wrote to Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the first president of Israel:

“I want to tell you how happy and impressed I have been at the remarkable progress made by the new State of Israel.”

In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson stated:

“America and Israel have a common love of human freedom and a democratic way of life…Through the centuries, through dispersion and through very grievous trials, your forefathers clung to their Jewish identity and their ties with the land of Israel. The prophet Isaiah foretold – ‘And He shall set up an ensign for the nations and He shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from all the four corners of the earth.’” President Johnson concluded: “History knows no more moving example of persistence against the cruelest odds.”

Rarely have I found myself in agreement with LBJ thinking. On this matter, however, he’s right.

Happy 60th anniversary, Israel!