Ezra Taft Benson and the State of Israel - Brandeis Institutional ...

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those experiences to give validity to his claim of friendship and kinship to the Jewishpeople. 160Perhaps most revealing is Benson's conclusion that, more than just a homeland inany country where space existed, the Jews should be gathered to the land of theirinheritance. In response to the notion that perhaps Jews could establish a homeland inSouth America, or some other such region, Benson reports in 1950:We of course do not agree that some other more suitable place should beand will be found for the descendants of Judah. We believe in the overrulingpower of Providence in the affairs of men and nations. We believethat the Old Testament prophets clearly predicted the dispersion andscattering of Israel and the eventual gathering of Judah in the land givento their fathers. 161He then explains later in his remarks that “the Lord had used, as a means of prodding theJews and bringing about a fulfillment of this purposes, legalized persecution under thegreat and terrible Nazi program.” 162Benson not only felt great personal sorrow at thesuffering of the Jewish people; his understanding of their persecution led him to see it aspart of the fulfillment of prophecy, and part of the means to bring God's Chosen Peopleback the land of their fathers. His political views would likewise be firmly planted in thisunderstanding of the formation of the State of Israel as sanctioned by God, prophesiedboth anciently and in modern revelation, and his public comments reveal that tie to hisreligious convictions.Benson's political record with Israel revolves generally around his time asSecretary of Agriculture. In that capacity, he visited Israel twice, as part of international160161162See chapter two and the explanation of Benson's claim of Latter-day Saint kinship with the Jewishpeople.Benson, “Jews Return to Palestine,” 2.Benson, “Jews Return to Palestine,” 4.52
visits to promote Public Law 480. Despite his rather secular duty as a representative ofUnited States Agricultural interests, his comments on Israel tend toward the religious,differing somewhat from his comments on the other countries he toured. In fact,although Israeli society of the 1950s focused on mostly nonreligious aspects of Jewishidentity, Benson consistently drew attention to the religious aspects of both Israel'sexistence, and its leadership. Indeed, Mart explains that it was very clear that “modernIsrael bore little relation to the biblical Jewish theocracy,” 163 and that the religious tie tothe Jewish State was often more evident in American Christian culture than in Israelitself. This inclination was certainly true for Secretary Benson. Many of Benson'sstatements return to the notion of the “miraculous drama” 164 of Israel's formation. AndBenson was quick to point out that even the early leaders, seen by many as “thoroughlymodern 'European intellectuals and idealists,'” 165 held religious feelings about theirefforts to build a state for their people. In his 1976 message, Benson recounts a visit withMoshe Dayan during his 1960 trip to Israel, during which Dayan (also former Secretaryof Agriculture) confided in Benson, “I'm not what people would call a spiritual man, butno one will ever convince me that there wasn't a higher power with us as we met theEgyptians down on the Sinai.” 166 Then Benson tells about a later visit with David BenGurion, in 1964, with Benson this time acting as Apostle of the Church. Benson visitedBen Gurion in his Tel Aviv apartment, and at one point during the evening, he asked163164165166Mart, “Christianization of Israel and Jews,” 115.Benson, Sake Conference Address, 7Mart, “Christianization of Israel and Jews,” 116.Benson, “Message to Judah,” 2.53
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AcknowledgementsI am indebted to Pr
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Table of ContentsIntroduction - 1Ch
Page 6 and 7: elationship in any depth.In researc
Page 8 and 9: friendships with various Israeli le
Page 10 and 11: Joseph Smith taught that Latter-day
Page 12 and 13: Gentiles, and it will be again inha
Page 14 and 15: for their long suffering. Yet, he,
Page 16 and 17: focus on both the fulfillment of pr
Page 18 and 19: Smith and Brigham Young, as previou
Page 20 and 21: Smith, the members of the group “
Page 22 and 23: Jews.'” 46Benjamin further descri
Page 24 and 25: Chapter 2: Benson's Religious Leade
Page 26 and 27: audiences. The first, called, “Je
Page 28 and 29: Benson's sense of kinship for the J
Page 30 and 31: eturn of the Jews to the land of Pa
Page 32 and 33: general mention of his efforts at s
Page 34 and 35: Or perhaps it did not aid in his ap
Page 36 and 37: about Jews and Israel, throughout t
Page 38 and 39: and Peter Grose describe the frustr
Page 40 and 41: Israel's victory in the Six Day War
Page 42 and 43: the Messiah. Indeed, both Benson an
Page 44 and 45: those visits, as opposed to those o
Page 46 and 47: U.S. agricultural products on credi
Page 48 and 49: The American public, though divided
Page 50 and 51: States.” 133Indeed, a Gallup poll
Page 52 and 53: with Britain and France, for their
Page 54 and 55: many Americans that Israel was now,
Page 58 and 59: Benson, “I want you to pray to Go
Page 60 and 61: gathering. Some of those themes inc
Page 62 and 63: Ben Gurion and Levi Eshkol, both of
Page 64 and 65: sending “two Mormon Books,” and
Page 66 and 67: Yet Ben Gurion's next letter, dated
Page 68 and 69: on this occasion with Shimon Peres
Page 70 and 71: cultivate land for crops in the 194
Page 72 and 73: attitude in the Synagogue Light art
Page 74 and 75: United States, his views on Israel
Page 76 and 77: eminded the host that he had not be
Page 78 and 79: Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
Page 80 and 81: "Though Thy servant is now far from
Page 82 and 83: BibliographyAlteras, Isaac. Eisenho
Page 84 and 85: Madsen, Truman G. “Mormon Attitud
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