The Foreign Service Journal, September 2010

each of the four major Arab states be- tween January and July 1949 were landmarks and calming events during McDonald’s period of service. McDonald also persuaded Israel to respond more forcefully than it had originally intended against Jew- ish terrorist organizations following the assassination of U.N. Mediator Folke Bernadotte in the Jewish part of Jerusalem on Sept. 17, 1948 — barely a month after McDonald’s Aug. 12 arrival in Israel. Similarly, by 1949 Israel evolved a more positive and open policy regarding the contri- butions it would be willing to make in easing the plight of the refugees, de- spite its security and other concerns over any large-scale repatriation with- out a general peace. After stepping down as ambassa- dor, McDonald would never again serve in public office. Instead, he re- sumed his work as a fundraiser for Is- rael and a promoter of good relations between it and the U.S. until his death in 1964. In closing, another quote from Under Secretary William Phillips serves as a telling bookend to the letter cited at the beginning. In his 1952 book, Ventures in Diplo- macy , Phillips felt unfriendly enough toward McDonald to attribute his appointment to Israel to his pro- Zionist public stance, for which Mc- Donald “was to be naturally acclaim- ed by the Jewish communities wher- ever he went. Very naturally also he became the first American minister to Israel.” Fortunately, more objective ob- servers see James McDonald in a more positive light. They credit him with having served his country well and faithfully, and for pursuing his basic sense of justice for the Jewish people. ■ S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 47 H AVE S OMETHING TO S AY ? S PEAK O UT ! Send your submission to: journal@afsa.org All submissions are subject to review and editing for length and grammar. journal@afsa.org