--- description: The first official visit came just days after the country was founded title: Before Netanyahu: The First Trip to US by an Israeli Leader image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt667f3fc5eca24a5d/69886f2ee20a87f8efa8dffc/weizmann.jpeg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [politics](/tag/politics/) ## politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # What Happened the First Time an Israeli Leader Met With a U.S. President  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 9, 2015 1:30 PM CUT  Chaim Weizmann offers Harry Truman a Torah scroll at the White House in 1948 Chaim Weizmann offers Harry Truman a Torah scroll at the White House in 1948Gamma-Keystone / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 9, 2015 1:30 PM CUT When Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House on Monday, it will mark the latest in a long line of similar meetings: since the country was founded in 1948, there have been more than [100 visits](https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/visits/israel "undefined") to the U.S. by its prime ministers and presidents. The first took place just days after Israel was established in May 1948\. After being [elected](https://books.google.com/books?id=WkYEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=may+14+1948+weizmann+new+york+city&source=bl&ots=DhBYBmHEAv&sig=cFcwxdBdsEmxDRDacABL2LoO9mo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBzgKahUKEwiWlKGpt%5FLIAhUB6CYKHV5WD48#v=onepage&q=may%2014%201948%20weizmann%20new%20york%20city&f=false "undefined") president May 14 of that year, the Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann—who had been in New York City when the news came—traveled to Washington to meet President Harry Truman in Washington. Not everyone, however, was happy about the situation, as TIME [reported](http://time.com/vault/issue/1948-05-31/page/19/ "undefined"): --- > “” --- The dispute over the role of Israel in the lives of American Jews—a debate that has yet to be resolved—didn’t put a damper on the celebratory visit. Weizmann had what TIME reported was a 25-minute chat with President Truman, during which the new head of state “presented \[Truman\] with a Torah covered in blue velvet,” TIME [noted](http://time.com/vault/issue/1948-06-07/page/26/ "undefined"). “Confided Harry Truman: ‘I always wanted one.'” **_Read more about Chaim Weizmann, here in the TIME Vault:_** [A Long Road](http://time.com/vault/issue/1948-06-07/page/33/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4096859/netanyahu-visit-weizmann-1948/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4096859/netanyahu-visit-weizmann-1948/"},"headline":"What Happened the First Time an Israeli Leader Met With a U.S. President","datePublished":"2015-11-09T13:30:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:16:33.008Z","description":"The first official visit came just days after the country was founded","url":"https://time.com/4096859/netanyahu-visit-weizmann-1948/","keywords":["politics","Israel","faith"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt667f3fc5eca24a5d/69886f2ee20a87f8efa8dffc/weizmann.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt667f3fc5eca24a5d/69886f2ee20a87f8efa8dffc/weizmann.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Harry Truman et Chaim Weizmann","caption":"Harry Truman et Chaim Weizmann","creditText":"Gamma-Keystone / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4096859/netanyahu-visit-weizmann-1948/","name":"What Happened the First Time an Israeli Leader Met With a U.S. President"}}]}] ```