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Lot 54
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Important unpublished political letters by Israel diplomat Abba Eban
Important unpublished political letters by Israel diplomat Abba Eban
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Description:

Historic Archive of 12 mostly unpublished important and revealing letters of Israeli statesman Abba Eban, including six handwritten, about U.S. policies towards Israel and the Arab countries, Truman, Eisenhower. Dulles, Neguib, Nasser, U Thant, Ben-Gurion ("in personal relationships he lacks courage"), Meir, Dayan ("unutterably mediocre and boring. His ambition exceeds his ability"), Eshkol, Begin, Peres, Allon, and Israeli politics ("B.G. has forced Golda to accept the Deputy PM arrangement")

ABBA EBAN (1915-2002) A superb correspondence written to leftist British journalist Jon Kimche (1909-1994) in London, editor of the magazines " Jewish Observer" and, later, "The New Middle East." Kimche, a Swiss Jew, came to England with his family in 1921 and became involved with the socialist Independent Labour Party. The ILP was affiliated with Britain's Labour Party. He became head of the ILP Guild of Youth in the 1930s. In the early years of World War II, Kimche contributed articles on military strategy to London's daily paper, the " Evening Standard." In the 1940s, he worked at the socialist weekly " Tribune." By 1946, his primary interest lay in the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. From 1946-1948, he was co-editor of the " Tribune" but was fired after disappearing from the office in December 1947 to Istanbul to negotiate safe passage with Turkish authorities for two ships sailing from Bulgaria with thousands of Jews aboard bound for Palestine. He was editor of the " Jewish Observer and Middle East Review" in London for 15 years and was Middle East correspondent of the " Evening Standard" until 1973. His books include " Seven Fallen Pillars: The Middle East, 1915-1950" (1950), "Spying for Peace: General Guisan and Swiss Neutrality" (1962), "The Unfought Battle" (1968), "The Second Arab Awakening" (1970), and " Palestine or Israel" (1970).

Abba Eban (1915-2002) was born Abba Solomon Meir in South Africa, later changing it to Aubrey Solomon Eban. All letters are in English to Jon Kimche, mostly while he served as Editor of the " Jewish Observer" in London. Eban served as Israel's Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations and Israeli Deputy Minister of Defense and Foreign Minister. Staple holes in upper left of most pages; some are stapled to carbons of replies. Fine condition.

(1) Autograph Letter Signed "Aubrey" as Israeli Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, seven pages, 6.25" x 9.24", separate sheets, tape stain in left margin of first page. Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, July 18, 1953." Personal and Confidential" on top of first page. In part, "The State Department is baffled by the contrast between British spinelessness over Iran and stubbornness over Egypt. Neguib [became Egypt's first president a month earlier] is regarded there as less likely to bring matters to explosion point...than Churchill; and this in the content of the NATO alliance leaves Washington quite paralysed...In Cairo their advice to Neguib is to play down the Suez issue as the be-all-and-end all...The Truman Acheson policy for Israel-Arab affairs was: reliance on the May 1950 declaration guaranteeing present boundaries unless or until a new mutual agreement is reached...resettlement of most Arab refugees in Arab countries but a token number in Israel...international control of Holy Places but without affecting the political status quo in Jerusalem...Now all this is reaffirmed by Dulles with the gratuitous addition of some ungraceful philosophising mostly at the expense of Allies – Britain, France and Israel...There is, however, a constant attempt to keep all pro-Israel acts in the dark as much as possible...the Ike administration is really in the toils of Republican Party inhibitions..." Much, much more Israeli-Arab-U.S. content.

(2) Autograph Letter unsigned ending with " Please destroy this letter and make no use of it – however indirect," as Minister Without Portfolio, eight pages, 7.25" x 10.5", separate sheets. On his stationery as President of The Weizmann Institute of Science. Rehovoth, Israel, no date but identified in ink, probably by Jon Kimche, as " Written End of 1959 or early 1960." In part, "The western view of a reformed Nasser is not entirely sound and can be met and modified, but Israel's chief task is to find a new basis for new western relationships now that anti Nasserism no longer governs the thought of Washington, London and Paris. Our aim is not that the west should be anti Nasser but that it should be pro-Israel...The circumstances surrounding GM's [Golda Meir's] retention have been attended by great sensitivity. Everyone, including BG [Ben-Gurion] himself, is reading on tip toe. My own position is as described in the May 18 issue. But our increasing intimacy with B.G. has its problems with G.M. I am in a similar position – if I am vehemently expressed – to that in which Sh.P. [Shimon Peres] found himself a year ago. B.G, implores all of us to show some internal diplomacy, and to lie a bit low to avoid conflict. I am therefore working with him in the way that is expected to be working with her. But for all his carefulness (how long will it last?) B.G. looks to his new faces for decisive counsel. He is far too worried to waste his resources. I am now active on all the Cabinet Committees – Foreign Affairs, Economic, Legislative, Havereem, and the private Cabals. This is in itself vindicates the mobility of a Minister not inhibited by administration and illustrates BG's sincerity in what he told you. I shall be in London 13-24 February [1960]. Moshe Dayan – in America at the same time. There is political method in this too..." Much, much more content about Nasser.

(3) Autograph Letter Signed " Aubrey" as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, five pages, 7.25" x 10.5", separate sheets. Rehovoth, Israel, July 6, 1963. In part, "You still wrote of an alleged group Peres-Dayan-Eban which is somehow in 'statu pupillari' to B.G. There is no such group. My own views and political fate are not linked with them. I have spoken twice to Dayan in 4 years. I find him unutterably mediocre and boring. His ambition exceeds his ability to such an astounding degree that his present crash was, sooner or later, inevitable. [Shimon]Peres is a much more serious character but his relation to B.G. is quite different from mine. No leader could do less for any politician than B.G. has done for me. He has at every stage, done the minimum dictated by public and party necessities. This is not because he is hostile – I believe that he is basically appreciative – but rather because in personal relationships he lacks courage. He lets his supporters down and placates his enemies. This is why he is not PM today. On the other hand, [Levi]Eskol's dependence on me if he is to cover some gaps in his own experience is frankly acknowledged by him. He has forced Golda to accept the Deputy PM arrangement, publically ratified in the ears of the party chiefs, and accompanied by a clear statement on my ultimate succession. This is ten times more than B.G. has ever done. B.G.'s greatness is a matter for history and he has no obligation to further my progress..." Much, much, more political content.

(4) Autograph Letter Signed " Aubrey" as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, one page, 6.5" x 8.25." N.p., October 13, 1963. In part, "You may find the enclosed letter of Bakstansky interesting. Any comment?..." Present is a Typed Letter Signed " Lavy Bakstansky" as General Secretary, one page, 8" x 10". London, September 25, 1963. On letterhead of The Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. To Abba Eban mentioning " two letters which I sent" to Israel Sieff..."
(5) Typed Letter Signed " Abba Eban" as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, one page, 8.5" x 11". Jerusalem, November 25, 1963. Mentioning " the United States position as expressed in the 'quiet talks' with B.G. in March-April" concerning " the refugee problem..."

(6) Typed Letter Signed " Aubrey" as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, two pages, 8.5" x 11", separate sheets. Jerusalem, December 10, 1963. In part, "Whereas during B.G.'s tenure Eshkol's succession was taken for granted the situation has now been created which the American politicians would call 'wide open'. The uncertainty of the question is increased by the fact that we are at the beginning of a recent transition and if all goes well the problem should not arise for some years. I think you would be safe in writing that there is no sign of a serious challenge to Mapai's hegemony..."

(7) Typed Letter Signed " Abba Eban" as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, one page 8.5" x 11". Jerusalem, December 27, 1965. In part, "There will certainly be a Cabinet within a week and, in my own prediction, a broadly-based one comprising 75 members of the Knesset...At this moment, there is no sign of life from across the Atlantic..."

(8) Typed Letter Signed " Abba " as Israeli Foreign Minister, one page 6.5" x 8". Jerusalem, June 7, 1968. In part, "My apologies for the delay in replying to your letter of 29 April. You doubtless know that I have been kept more than occupied both abroad and at home during the past month..." Unsigned carbon of Kimche's April 29th letter is stapled to Eban's letter in the upper left.

(9) Autograph Letter Signed " Aubrey," two pages, 5.25" x 7". London, no date. In part, "It is not that I express 'no concern' about plans for Jordan and Saudi Arabia. It is that I express a greater concern about Egypt. And in relation to Saudi Arabia and Jordan I say that what is done for them requires a compensating correction in Israel's favour."

(10) Typed Letter Signed " Abba Eban " as Israeli Foreign Minister, one page 8.5" x 10.5". Jerusalem, April 16, 1969. In part, "The two central ideas which occupy me...a. The era of autonomy in Middle Eastern history – by this I mean the disengagement of the powers who have traditionally shaped the regions destiny, and the correlary necessity for Arabs and Israelis to look inward toward each other., b. The application of the European community concept to possible peace procedures and techniques."

(11) Autograph Letter Signed " Aubrey" as Israeli Foreign Minister, two pages, 8" x 10", front and verso. London, [July 1969]. About a proposed interview. Unsigned carbon of Kimche's July 25, 1969 reply is stapled to Eban's letter in the upper left.

(12) Typed Letter Signed " Abba Eban " with 36 word handwritten postscript, as Israeli Foreign Minister, one page 8.5" x 10.5". Jerusalem, June 11, 1970. Eban comments on Kimche's new book, "The Second Arab Awakening," about the 1967 Six Day War. In part, "I counselled Eshkol to approve refugee re-settlement projects in the West Bank, without prejudice to the final political settlement...There was a mass exodus of new refugees to Transjordan in June-July 1967. I got a resolution of the Cabinet for selective return; this was frustrated by [Menachem] Begin and, especially, [Moshe]Dayan...More recently Dayan has opposed, and [Yigal]Allon and I have supported some authorization of more local autonomy in Judea..." Eban adds in a lengthy handwritten postscript, "Further nonsense on P. 235. 'When in September 1968 U Thant suggested indirect negotiations on the lines of the armistice negotiations on Rhodes in 1949 the idea was denounced by Eshkol'! We accepted Rhodes in writing to [special U.N. envoy Gunnar] Jarring in March 1968."

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