Long history

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has left himself open to dispute by saying, in your words, as you report in “Netanyahu publicly disputes Tillerson on US Embassy” (May 15), that “Israel might not want the US Embassy relocated to Jerusalem at this time.” We must remember that Tillerson’s State Department has a long history of not being so friendly to the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

Breckenridge Long, an assistant secretary of state, had much to do with shutting America’s gates to refugees trying to escape the gas chambers of Hitler’s Germany. Secretary of state George Marshall was vehemently against recognizing statehood for Israel. As secretary of state, John Foster Dulles viewed Israel as a headache while trying to strengthen relations with the Arab states. The peace plan put forward by then-secretary of state William Rogers was rejected by both Israel and Egypt. Secretary of state Madeline Albright made some witless comments regarding Hamas in more recent years. And of course, as secretary of state, the incomparable John Kerry presided over UN Security Council Resolution 2334.

The bureaucrats serving as department heads are rife with Arabists who have no great love for Israel. But they now have a president who is unconventional and doing his best “to drain the swamp.” Appeasement never works. An angry China became much more compliant when President Donald Trump had a phone conversation with the Taiwanese president.

Peace will only come to this land when the Arabs recognize that the Jewish state is here to stay, and reality hits them in the face. Moving the embassy to Israel’s capital is a big first step to achieving that elusive, century-old goal.

FRED EHRMAN New York/Ra’anana