Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Abba Eban Dies at 87

This is topic Abba Eban Dies at 87 in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=001460

Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 11-18-2002, 10:33 AM:

"November 18, 2002
Abba Eban, Eloquent Defender and Voice of Israel, Is Dead at 87"
By MARC D. CHARNEY [From the New York Times]

"Abba Eban, the erudite diplomat whose oratory and wit gained admiration and sympathy for Israel during the perilous first 30 years of its independence, died yesterday in a hospital near Tel Aviv, Foreign Ministry and hospital officials said. He was 87.

Mr. Eban was an effective negotiator at talks that helped shape the destiny of his country in its early years, but it was his public voice and its effect on international opinion that set him apart. He gave elegant and passionate expression to Israel's right to exist, instilled pride and solidarity in the Jewish diaspora and was a formidable debater against his nation's enemies.

He was Israel's representative at the United Nations during the independence struggle of 1948, its ambassador to both Washington and the United Nations during the Middle East war of 1956, and its foreign minister during the 1967 and 1973 Middle East wars.

He helped arrange a critical meeting between the Zionist patriarch Chaim Weizmann and President Harry S. Truman in the weeks before Mr. Truman decided that the United States would recognize Israeli independence in 1948. He helped negotiate a critical security guarantee for Israel during the diplomatic fiasco after the 1956 invasion of the Sinai. He was Israel's main contact with President Lyndon B. Johnson in the tense diplomacy that preceded the 1967 Middle East war, and the following year he conducted some of Israel's earliest secret contacts with King Hussein of Jordan."

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/18/obituaries/18EBAN.html?

I remember him best for his writing and on-screen narration of the public television nine part series "Heritage: Civilization and the Jews" on which he worked from 1979 to 1984. Its popularity caused its repeated broadcasting over the years. Eban had a superb command of both English and Hebrew, and his delivery was often compared to Churchill's. He spoke more than a dozen languages, and made intensive study of Arabic and Russian. He continued his classic youthful education at Queens College, Cambridge, and after graduating with honors became a lecturer in Arabic, Persian and Hebrew at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He later taught at Columbia University in New York.

Abba Eban joined the army and when WWII broke out was sent to Cairo as an officer. He was reassigned to Palestine in a secret operation in which British officers helped train Jews as resistance fighters,
although the project became superfluous after the victory at El Alemain.

The New York Times obituary cited above gives detailed information on his careers as soldier, diplomat, statesman and educator.

"Olav ha-shalom," Abba Eban--

Gerard

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 11-19-2002, 07:07 PM:

Gerard...

A great man, he was!

I have some very rare items in my Judiaca library. Included are many of his books in first editions. I also have, on l.p., recording of his 1967 U.N. speech.

The man was a magnificant statesman and scholor!

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 11-19-2002, 07:19 PM:

Just out of curiousity, if he were with us today and prime minister of Israel, what do either of you think he would do to handle the present situation?

Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 11-19-2002, 08:02 PM:

Steve, I find it hard to even hazard a guess. For one thing, in recent years he has not been popular in Israel, where the party system and parliamentary government creat an unstable situation that makes continuity of policy extremely difficult. And at 87, the position requires the energies and popularity of a younger leader.

On the other hand, his ability to communicate in many languages, his activity as historian, his sense of humor and diplomatic acumen
might be put to use in visiting world leaders, including Arab capitals,should such possibilities occur. But with the Arab League
seizing control of their state-funded propaganda, and overtly or covertly funding terrorist activities, there is not much we can expect from a single individual, even one of Abba Eban's superior talents and experience in the present fight for Israeli survival.