The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel marked the creation of a Jewish state for the first time in nearly two thousand years and set off an unusually compressed diplomatic sequence: Israel was declared at midnight in Jerusalem, and the United States announced de facto recognition eleven minutes later. The episode joined a historic act of statehood to a last-minute contest within the Truman administration over recognition, timing, and the practical risks of a rapidly changing situation.

Background and Stakes

The declaration came amid conflict over the future of Palestine and the approaching end of British responsibility there. Britain had announced that it would transfer responsibility to the United Nations on May 14, 1948. Arab representatives warned that partition would mean war, and Truman had been warned that protecting a new Jewish state through American military intervention would require at least 100,000 troops. Britain was about to withdraw 50,000 of its own troops, while the deployable American force then available amounted to fewer than 30,000, with perhaps another 23,000 Marines. The prospective declaration therefore carried immediate strategic implications, even as the book’s account centers on the political decision to recognize the new state rather than on a military response.

The question of recognition divided officials within the administration. On May 13, Truman’s response to Clark Clifford’s account was that George C. Marshall needed more time. The following day, Clifford and Robert A. Lovett met over lunch at the F Street Club to draft a statement for the President. Lovett urged against what he regarded as an indecently hasty recognition, arguing that the American delegation at the United Nations should receive adequate warning. Clifford could not promise that delay. The disagreement made the timing itself consequential: the administration was not simply preparing to announce a settled policy but trying to coordinate its decision amid internal differences and a deadline measured in hours.

The Declaration and Recognition

That afternoon, Marshall telephoned Truman. He said that he could not support the position Truman wished to take, but would not oppose it publicly. Truman told Clifford that this was sufficient. Clifford then hurriedly called Elihu Epstein, an official of the Jewish Agency in Washington, to tell him recognition would occur that day and to ask for the necessary papers to be prepared and sent to the White House. Epstein asked what was needed; Clifford could not give him a precise answer, remarking on how unusual it was for a new country to seek recognition.

The paperwork made the moment’s uncertainty tangible. Clifford contacted the State Department and reported back to Epstein, but when the documents finally arrived, the name of the new country had been left blank. It was not yet known what name would be entered. The declaration itself proceeded on schedule: at midnight in Jerusalem, which was 6:00 p.m. in Washington, the new Jewish state was proclaimed. Eleven minutes later, Charles Ross announced at the White House that the United States recognized Israel de facto. The speed was remarkable, but the blank space on the recognition papers preserved the improvised character of the process: a historic decision had to be carried out while its basic diplomatic documents were still catching up with events.

Diplomatic Aftermath

The announcement reached the American delegation at the United Nations without adequate advance notice. Delegates were flabbergasted; some laughed, believing the news to be a joke. Ambassador Austin had been told in advance, but only at the last moment. So upset was he that he went home without informing the other members of the delegation. At the State Department, Marshall sent Dean Rusk, his head of United Nations affairs, by plane to New York to prevent the delegation from resigning.

The aftermath underscored the distinction between a presidential decision and the institutions expected to present and implement it. Recognition had been arranged in Washington against the clock, while the delegation representing the United States at the United Nations was left struggling to absorb the announcement. In the book’s account, the eleven-minute interval between Israel’s proclamation and the American statement gives the event its defining shape: statehood was declared on schedule, recognition followed almost immediately, and diplomatic coordination was forced to catch up afterward.