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

EpilogueAlthough I have not chosen to include it in this thesis, mostly because I couldobtain little evidence from which base any analysis, Benson's relations with Israelcontinued long past his 1976 “Message to Judah.” As the State of Israel became moreestablished, and Benson rose to greater prominence in his Church leadership, his writingsand remarks revolved less around the Jewish State, and more around pressing concernsamong Church membership. However, his relationships with Israelis remained strongand his interest keen. He travelled to Israel again as apostle in 1979 to participate in thededication of a park on the Mount of Olives memorializing Orson Hyde's 1841dedication. In fact, the letter from Teddy Kollek, mayor of Jerusalem, informing theChurch that it would be authorized to put up a plaque and complete a memorial garden inhonor of Hyde, was sent directly to Benson. He had often suggested the idea of acommemorative garden, which the Church would gladly provide, to his Israeli friends. 210Benson was very pleased at its acceptance and “felt he had had a small hand in it.” 211A few years later, when Brigham Young University, funded and operated by theChurch, began to build its Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies on Mount Scopus,opposition raged among the Orthodox community. In order to diminish their opposition,Benson was again cited for his strong bond and respected name in Israel. In a radiobroadcasted interview, Michael Shani, who had spent a year and a half in Utah (and210211The Hyde Memorial Garden stands on five acres of land on the Mount of Olives and is free and open tothe public.Dew, Biography, 433.71