Only Copy of US Document Recognizing Israel Signed by Harry Truman Up for Sale

The only known copy of a press release signed by former US president Harry Truman that recognized the state of Israel just minutes after its leaders declared independence is being put on the block. The document being auctioned came to be at the New York World’s Fair in 1964-65, when then-chairman of the American-Israel Pavilion, Zecharia Sitchin, asked Truman to sign a copy of the official statement. The original, dated May 14, 1948 and which is kept at the Harry Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri, does not bear the former US leader’s signature (he had, however, signed an initial draft of the declaration). The Raab Collection, a Philadelphia-based dealer in historical documents that is selling the item, estimated it will fetch $300,000.