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the completely correct answer or not, that moment – when the entire world folded
into a single blazing, shining point, and one small man ran before them, raising his
hands and calling them to follow, and everything indeed came running after him, and
many would run no more after that – whoever was there will never forget how, in his
lifetime, that once occurred; that once when all of the totality of things merged into one.
S. Yizhar, 1948 – "The Moment Before the State Broke Out", from the book Ve'eleh Shenot… by
Nissim Mishal, Yediot Aharonot, Tel Aviv 1998, p. 15
H elp from Afar
During the spring of 1948, Dr. Chaim Weizmann was in the US. He was
ill, and was not serving in any official capacity. Nevertheless, he was
very active and spared no efforts on behalf of the embryonic state.
A chapter from his autobiography offers a glimpse into some of his
endeavors.
Dr. Chaim Weizmann
I was of course in intimate consultation during this period with Mr. Shertok, our
chief spokesman at the United Nations, and his colleagues. They were thoroughly
aware of the dangers which lurked in the truce proposal; but they were also aware that
it made a strong appeal to the less determined elements in our own ranks. Perhaps
the most telling argument against us was that in proclaiming a Jewish State, in the
face, apparently, of American disapproval, we should be alienating a powerful friend.
Moreover, it needed a certain moral courage to decline a truce when our nascent
army in Palestine was still so ill-equipped and the issue apparently still in doubt. Mr.
Shertok, Dr. Nahum Goldmann and their colleagues felt that at this point my views
on the situation would have a considerable effect both within and without our ranks.
O n the issue of this truce, as on that of the trusteeship, I was never in a moment's doubt.
It was plain to me that retreat would be fatal. Our only chance now, as in the past, was
to create facts, to confront the world with these facts, and to build on their foundation.
Independence is never given to a people; it has to be earned; and having been earned; it
Other Perspectives 205
into a single blazing, shining point, and one small man ran before them, raising his
hands and calling them to follow, and everything indeed came running after him, and
many would run no more after that – whoever was there will never forget how, in his
lifetime, that once occurred; that once when all of the totality of things merged into one.
S. Yizhar, 1948 – "The Moment Before the State Broke Out", from the book Ve'eleh Shenot… by
Nissim Mishal, Yediot Aharonot, Tel Aviv 1998, p. 15
H elp from Afar
During the spring of 1948, Dr. Chaim Weizmann was in the US. He was
ill, and was not serving in any official capacity. Nevertheless, he was
very active and spared no efforts on behalf of the embryonic state.
A chapter from his autobiography offers a glimpse into some of his
endeavors.
Dr. Chaim Weizmann
I was of course in intimate consultation during this period with Mr. Shertok, our
chief spokesman at the United Nations, and his colleagues. They were thoroughly
aware of the dangers which lurked in the truce proposal; but they were also aware that
it made a strong appeal to the less determined elements in our own ranks. Perhaps
the most telling argument against us was that in proclaiming a Jewish State, in the
face, apparently, of American disapproval, we should be alienating a powerful friend.
Moreover, it needed a certain moral courage to decline a truce when our nascent
army in Palestine was still so ill-equipped and the issue apparently still in doubt. Mr.
Shertok, Dr. Nahum Goldmann and their colleagues felt that at this point my views
on the situation would have a considerable effect both within and without our ranks.
O n the issue of this truce, as on that of the trusteeship, I was never in a moment's doubt.
It was plain to me that retreat would be fatal. Our only chance now, as in the past, was
to create facts, to confront the world with these facts, and to build on their foundation.
Independence is never given to a people; it has to be earned; and having been earned; it
Other Perspectives 205
