Jewish History Moment podcast with Ben Bresky
Israel Beat
Robert F. Kennedy and the Founding of Israel
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Robert F. Kennedy and the Founding of Israel

In 1948 a young RFK reported on the British, the Arabs and the “proud and determined” Jews building a new nation.

A young Robert F. Kennedy describes first-hand the tense final days of the British Mandate of Palestine, the Arab preparations for war and the tenacity of the underequipped Jewish fighters seeking an independent Israel in 1948.

“Jews Make Up for Lack of Arms with Undying Spirit, Unparalleled Courage” reads a headline from the Boston Post in a series of Kennedy articles that were lost for decades until being uploaded online in 1998. Hear about his close-calls in the days leading up to Israel’s War of Independence.

Plus, the tragic assassination of Senator Kennedy by an Arab nationalist in 1968.

22-year-old Robert F. Kennedy at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, April, 1948. Credit: Kennedy Family, via Lenny Ben-David, Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA)
RFK in Jerusalem, April, 1948.
Bobby Kennedy on assignment for the Boston Post arrives in Lydda Airport.

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