Letter from Seán Nunan to Joseph P. Walshe (Holy See)
(434/304)

You will have read in the press about the visit of Mr. Eliahu Elath,¹ Ambassador of Israel in London. Towards the end of August, 1952, Mr. Elath paid a visit to Mr. Boland and informed him that he had been very anxious since taking up his appointment in London to pay a visit to Ireland. He had mentioned the matter to his Government and had just then received a reply from them warmly approving his proposal and asking him to do what he could during his visit to establish personal, even though unofficial, contacts with the Irish Government. Mr. Elath added that both he and his Government understood perfectly our position in the matter of the formal recognition of Israel. They appreciated that the matter was not a simple one from our point of view and they had no desire to press us or indeed embarrass us in any way in connection with it. On the other hand, they were anxious that relations between Ireland and Israel should be as close as present circumstances would permit. The Israeli movement had learnt much from the study of recent Irish history and they were keenly interested in modern developments in Ireland. They were also anxious to promote closer trade relations and, as Israel was becoming an important exporter of fertilisers and a buyer of meat, they saw a possibility of commercial development.

Mr. Elath informed Mr. Boland that, while for these reasons the Israeli Government look forward to the establishment of closer relations with Ireland, the visit which he proposed to make to Dublin was not intended to raise the issue in any way. He would be just the Israeli Ambassador in London visiting Ireland on holiday and endeavouring to observe appropriate courtesies.

The visit was first arranged for some time about the 10th November but had to be postponed because of the death of Dr. Weizmann, the late President of Israel.² Finally Mr. Elath arrived this week and is here at the time of writing. So far as I know he has made a good impression here but I am anxious to let you know that his visit, though it has received a good deal of publicity, has no special significance so far as we are concerned.