Ca 1948 Henry Morgenthau, JR & Mr ?? on Palestine, Israel & need for admittance to United Nations

Ca 1948 Henry Morgenthau, JR & Mr ?? on Palestine, Israel & need for admittance to United Nations Henry Morgenthau, Jr. w/ Mr. Shita at table reading SOF: From what I’ve seen & heard I’m afraid the United Nations may become nothing more than an international debating society like the International Disarmament Conference of the 1930s. The United Nations must act promptly to establish peace in Palestine w/ the 29Nov47 resolution of the General Assembly as a minimum basis. If the United Nations acts quickly then the state of Israel can become the strongest bulwark of Democracy in the Middle East. Delay is very costly; it is costly in human life, in the gift dollars of the contributed in the United States thru the United Jewish Appeal & especially costly in the economy of the state of Israel. Israel has had to place about 100,000 men under arms to defend itself against the Arabs. Moreover there are some 400,000 displaced Arabs facing a hard cold winter. The development of Israel will raise the standard of living in the neighboring countries & only a high standard of living can ensure peace & stability in the Middle East. I believe that 99% of the American people want peace. Only by becoming an instrument of action for peace, & not a debating society, can the U.N. achieve a solution of the major problems confronting it. Speed is vital in the matter of establishing peace in Palestine. What has already been accomplished in the immigration of 65,000 Jews into Israel in the last five months is one of the greatest acts of humanitarianism in the world history. The only other movement of this magnitude was the transfer of the Greeks out of Turkey after the 1st World War. I’m afraid unless the United Nation acts promptly, Israel may be sold down the river. There are hurdles in the path of large scale immigration... 13:56:19 The Joint Distribution Committee has been doing a wonderful job...funds of the United Jewish Appeal...are vitally important... 13:56:50 CU of ?? Perhaps you want me to say a few words of what we expect of this Assembly; our first claim is to be admitted as members to the United Nations. We believe admitting Israel as a member will not merely be an act of justice, it will also be a decisive step towards peace because it will remove any vestige of doubt from certain minds that Israel has come to stay & that fighting against it serves no useful purpose... Our second claim is that there should be no reduction of our territory. We need that territory in its entirety, not for any reasons of prestige but as land to settle our people... Our third claim is for Jewish Jerusalem. The Holy City of Jerusalem within the walls must be made international, but modern Jewish Jerusalem must belong to Israel because only Israel can insure its prosperity & protect it against any attack. Israel is a child of the United Nations & it is determined to remain loyal to its parent body. It’s going to base its whole policy upon loyalty to the United Nations but it is up to the U.N. to be loyal to its child to see that it grows & prospers... Goes on to praise Morgenthau’s past & future work. 1940s; ca 1948; ca 1949; Immigration; Resettlement; Near East; Post-WWII; Membership;