The bearer of this letter
is Mr. David Goitein of Jerusalem who is
now serving as Minister at our Embassy in
Washington. He is bringing you the question
which Prime Minister Ben
Gurion asked me
to convey to you, namely, whether you would
accept the Presidency of Israel if it were
offered you by a vote of the Knesset. Acceptance
would entail moving to Israel and taking
its citizenship. The Prime Minister assures
me that in such circumstances complete
facility and freedom to pursue your great
scientific work would be afforded by a
government and people who are fully conscious
of the supreme significance of your labors.
Mr. Goitein will be able
to give you any information that you may
desire on the implications of the Prime Minister's
question.
Whatever your inclination
or decision may be, I should be deeply grateful
for an opportunity to speak with you again
within the next day or two at any place convenient
for you. I understand the anxieties and
doubts which you expressed to me this evening.
On the other hand, whatever your answer,
I am anxious for you to feel that the Prime
Minister's question embodies the deepest
respect which the Jewish people can repose
in any of its sons. To this element of
personal regard, we add the sentiment that
Israel is a small State in its physical
dimensions, but can rise to the level of
greatness in the measure that it exemplifies
the most elevated spiritual and intellectual
traditions which the Jewish people has
established through its best minds and
hearts both in antiquity and in modern
times. Our first President, as you know,
taught us to see our destiny in these great
perspectives, as you yourself have often
exhorted us to do.
Therefore, whatever your
response to this question, I hope that you
will think generously of those who have asked
it, and will commend the high purposes and
motives which prompted them to think of you
at this solemn hour in our people's history.