A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle for the Mastery of the Middle East

by James Barr

Truman afterwards admitted that he had been subjected to a ‘constant barrage’ from ‘a few of the extreme Zionist leaders’ who ‘were even suggesting that we pressure sovereign nations into favorable votes in the General Assembly’.19 But he denied that he had succumbed to this unprecedented pressure and refuted allegations that his country had put pressure on other states before the vote. ‘I have never approved of the practice of the strong imposing their will on the weak, whether among men or among nations. We had aided Greece. We had in fact fathered the independence of the Philippines. But that did not make satellites of these nations or compel them to vote with us on the partitioning of Palestine or any other matter.’ The pressure that his ambassador, Baruch, put on Parodi, however, contradicts that pious claim. Either Truman was lying, or he was not fully in control of his administration. Interestingly, he did not mention France in his denial.