BEN-AHARON, Yosef H.
Yosef H. Ben-Aharon Typed Letter Signed.
Jerusalem: December 3, 1991.
$300.00
In Stock
Item Number: RRB-152551
+$500
"We shall not relent, either in maintaining our capacity to defend our state, or in our efforts to promote peace": Rare Typed Letter Signed by Yosef H. Ben-Aharon, Director General of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office
Rare typed letter signed by Yosef H. Ben-Aharon as Director General of the Prime Minister's Office of Israel, setting out the position of the Shamir government in the weeks following the Madrid Peace Conference. One page on the official bilingual letterhead of the Prime Minister's Office, Jerusalem, with a blind-embossed Emblem of Israel, dated December 3, 1991, and signed by him in ink above his printed name. The letter reads in full, "Dear Mr. Bullard, Thank you for your letter of November 4, 1991 and for your kind words. I have been involved in representing my country and working for peace for over 35 years. Our people yearn for peace, not only because we abhor war and bloodshed, but also because we are engaged in the ingathering of the scattered Jewish people in their dispersion and in rebuilding our ancient homeland. Unfortunately, however, our neighbours are still resisting accommodation and acceptance of Israel's legitimacy. They have developed sophisticated formulae of deception, designed to create an impression of willingness to talk peace with us. But in their actions and in their inner councils, they are incessantly striving to weaken Israel and bring about its destruction. Nevertheless, we shall not relent, either in maintaining our capacity to defend our state, or in our efforts to promote peace with our Arab neighbours. Sincerely, Yosef H. Ben-Aharon." Addressed to John H. Bullard of Ogden, Utah, a Vietnam veteran with a keen interest in politics. In near fine condition with mailing folds. The letter measures 8.625 inches by 11 inches.
Yosef Ben-Aharon served as Director General of the Prime Minister's Office of Israel under Yitzhak Shamir from 1988 to 1992, and was a central figure in Israeli diplomacy of the period. A career diplomat who had spent decades in his country's foreign service, he headed the Israeli delegation in the negotiations with Syria that followed the Madrid Peace Conference of October and November 1991. This letter, written only weeks after that conference opened the first direct talks between Israel and its Arab neighbors, sets out with unusual candor the outlook of the Shamir government, joining a statement of Israel's desire for peace and its mission of ingathering the Jewish people to a deep skepticism about the intentions of the surrounding Arab states. Shamir's government fell the following year, and the process begun at Madrid would lead under his successor Yitzhak Rabin to the Oslo Accords and to the peace treaty with Jordan.
Yosef H. Ben-Aharon Typed Letter Signed.
$300.00
In Stock