Letter from Joseph P. Walshe to Frederick H. Boland (Dublin)
(Secret)

Following on my letter of yesterday¹ (Air Mail) concerning the Holy Places, the news of an approaching recognition of the State of Israel by Britain, if it is true, may be the forerunner of an all round recognition of this state. In that case we shall undoubtedly be asked to follow suit. No doubt the form of the British declaration will provide us with some guide as to the nature, especially geographical, of the new state, and particularly whether Jerusalem is being regarded by the A.s and B.s as an integral part of the State. We are therefore, probably, about to be presented with an occasion for asking the Jews what they intend to do about the Holy Places. This will provide us with a breathing space, and I shall at once ascertain from the Vatican and inform you by cable what their attitude would be in face of the taking over of the whole of Palestine, including Jerusalem, by the Jews. Would they negotiate with the Govt. of Israel making the best of a bad matter, and, on receiving written assurances would they enter into diplomatic relations with Israel, for the purpose of themselves having a locus standi in the capital of the State. This may all be very premature, but it is better to have the mind of the Holy See on the question, even if the hypothesis of the inclusion of Jerusalem is not realized in fact. The appalling preoccupations… with far more threatening issues… of the Great Powers do not leave us much hope for the realization of the H.S.s project for an international régime… so far as the Holy City is concerned. And, at the moment, the British, in spite of the humiliations they have suffered, seem to have suddenly become obsessed with the idea that, unless they establish friendly contact at once with the Jews, the Russians will turn Palestine into another Czechoslovakia. Some of B.s here think the game is already lost in the Middle East owing to American bungling… but perhaps the Americans have information to show that the Jews are only playing with the Russians (forgetting that Stalin is a Georgian?).