Israeli special representative to the United States Eliahu Epstein today paid his first official call on President Truman at the White House. Afterwards, Epstein reported that the President told him he is confident that the state of Israel will continue to contribute to the progress of the Middle East.
The Israeli envoy told correspondents that ha thanked the President on behalf of Israel for all that he had personally contributed “to the success of our cause, in the efforts to establish the state of Israel and its progress since then.”
He said he told the President that the “turning point” had come the day when Mr. Truman called for the admission of 100,000 displaced persons into Palestine. “It was the moment when the refugees saw the first bright light after the misery of Hitler’s persecution,” Epstein said. “For us it was a challenge to be ready to absorb them and many more as useful and constructive citizens into our country.”
He said he also told the President that Israel looks forward to the “closest and most friendly” relations with the U.S. and hopes that the friendship between the two countries would contribute to the peace and progress of the world and the Middle East in particular. He assured the President that Israel will become a “peace-loving, progressive and democratic member of the community of nations” and that it was Israeli hope that U.S. assistance to the new state would continue. The President expressed the hope that progress, prosperity and success would come to Israel.
TRUMAN SAYS HE ALWAYS WISHED TO SOLVE DP PROBLEM
The President stated that it had always “been his desire to assist in every possible way to solve the displaced persons problem, Epstein asserted. Mr. Truman expressed the desire to one peace in the Middle East and he voiced the belief that it is important not only for the people of that area but for the world in general, he continued. The President, he added, said he knew how much good work the people of Israel had already done in the social and economic fields In the Middle East and that he know Israel would continue to contribute to the progress of that area.
When a correspondent asked if he had discussed with the President the possibility of a Middle East recovery program, Epstein said Mr. Truman expressed considerable interest in the development of construction programs, especially water irrigation projects and added that he thought the people of the Middle East would greatly benefit from such projects.
Mr. Epstein said he did not discuss any political questions. The discussion was limited, he said, to the question of the peaceful development of his country. He was accompanied “by Stanley Woodward, State Department chief of protocol.
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