Secretary of State George Marshall opposed the foundation of Israel, but Truman’s old haberdashery partner, Eddie Jacobsen, convinced him to recognize the new nation. Marshall came close to resigning over it, but David Rockefeller at the Council for Foreign Relations in New York convinced him to stay on.
Marshall was buddies with the Saudi camel jockey FDR installed as dictator, Ibn Saud, and Saud was violently opposed to a Jewish state. FDR was a raving Jew-hater. Not sure about Marshall.
It was an elderly Dr. Chaim Weizman who traveled to Washington to meet with Truman. State Department hacks prevented this. Eddie Jacobsen went straight to the Oval Office to plead for a personal meeting with Weizman (Truman never forgot where he came from). Jacobsen spoke his piece & paused.
Harry Truman drummed his fingers, then spun around in his chair & said with a grin, “All right, you baldheaded son of a bitch, I’ll see him! Tell Matt to arrange a meeting as soon as possible after I get back from New York.”
The meeting took place, the U.S. recognized Israel, & some State Dept. underlings wound up in Timbuktu & Kathmandu.