Jewish circles here today expresses satisfaction over President Truman’s announcement late yesterday evening that James G. McDonald has been designated U.S. “special representative” to Israel. At a press conference this morning, Presidential press secretary Charles G. Ross said that the question of an exchange of diplomatic representatives between the United States and Israel had been “in the works for some time,” but just came to a head yesterday.
The text of President Truman’s announcement reads:
“Agreement has been reached between the Government of the United States and the Provisional Government of Israel on the establishment of a mission of the United States in Israel and a mission of the Provisional Government of Israel in the United states. Agreement also has been reached on the exchange of special representatives.
“Mr. Eliahu Epstein has been designated by the Provisional Government of Israel as its special representative in the United States, heading the mission of the Provisional Government of Israel in this country.
“I have today appointed the Hon. James Grover McDonald, of New York, to serve as the special representative of the United States to head the mission of the United States in Israel.”
McDonald, a native of Coldwater, Ohio, was a member of the Anglo-American Commission of Inquiry on Palestine in 1946. For 14 years, he was chairman of the board of the Foreign Policy Association. Between 1933 and 1935, he served s High Commissioner for Jewish and other refugees coming from Germany.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
