Newly revealed recording details US effort to stop declaration of Israeli statehood

A newly revealed historic recording from Ben-Gurion House in Tel Aviv details a significant US effort to prevent the declaration of Israeli statehood in 1948. In the recording, Isser Harel, the first head of the Shin Bet, recounts a severe warning from US Secretary of State George Marshall to David Ben-Gurion. Marshall reportedly stated, "Know that if you declare the state, Arab countries will attack you and you have no chance of standing against them. Know that we will not lift a finger and we will not stand by your side. Do not declare the state." Harel emphasized that missing that opportunity would have prevented the state's establishment. The recording also touches on the critical military threat posed by the Arab Legion and King Abdullah of Jordan's conditional entry into the war if a state was declared.