Moshe Sharett

Speaking Out

The Collected Speeches of Israel’s First Foreign Minister - 1949

Edited by Yaakov and Rina Sharett

Speaking Out, 1949, is the second of a planned series of volumes, consisting of speeches made by Moshe Sharett, Israel’s first Foreign Minister (1948-1956) and its second Prime Minister (1954-1955) during his nine years of service in the Israeli cabinet - a volume for each year.

The majority of the 120 documents in this volume was culled from the protocols of the Israeli government meetings, Knesset sessions, and various discussions within the Labor Party. They vividly portray the political challenges met by the young state in the international arena during its second year of existence.

In 1949, Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett endeavored to surmount five major problems, each fraught with far-reaching historic consequences. These were:

signing armistice agreements with the four Arab states surrounding Israel whose armies invaded it in 1948 and were repulsed;

acceptance of Israel into membership by the United Nations Organization;

pressure to absorb hundreds of thousands Arab refugees;

holding the intricate deliberations with the UN Conciliation Commission which sought to mediate peace in the Middle East at the expense of Israel;

the serious threat of the UN Assemley to internationalize Jerusalem.

Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett succeeded in thwarting the first four challanges. He failed in his effort to defeat the Assembly’s motion to internationalize Jerusalem. Following this failure he tended his resignation to Prime Minister Ben Gurion - who immediately rejected it.

Moshe Sharett Heritage Society

30 Ben Gurion Blvd., Tel Aviv 6458805, Israel

www.sharett.org.il | e-mail: msharett.netvision.net.il

2016

ISBN 978-965-91117-5-6