RIGHT TO THEIR LAND: Eleanor Roosevelt Backs Israel in Letter

A Los Angeles auction house is selling a 1956 letter signed by Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in which she vigorously defends the actions of Israel during the 1956 Suez Crisis. Bidding began at $22,500.

Dated 8 March 1957, the letter responds pointedly to an individual who took issue with her newspaper column, ”My Day,” in defense of Israel.

“If you follow step by step in the UN and understand the difficulties, you will realize that Israel was not an aggressor,” the letter states. “The Charter of the UN allows self-defense and Israel’s case was purely one of self-defense… The Israelis have a right to their land and I think it is nonsense to suppose that they plan to plunge us into a war. They want peace as much, if not more, than other nations.”

{Matzav.com}