# Truman's regret over Israel

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Truman's regret over Israel," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/harry-truman-israel-regret/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's account that Harry Truman called his role in the creation of the state of Israel the act of 'a damn fool' and the biggest regret of his presidency, because the situation spun out of control almost immediately.*

- **Subject:** Recognition of the state of Israel
- **Truman's word, per Kiriakou:** *"A damn fool"*
- **Kiriakou's framing:** The biggest regret of Truman's presidency

**Truman's regret over Israel** is a claim [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) uses as the starting point of his account of the American–Israeli relationship.

By Kiriakou's telling, Harry Truman said that his role in the creation of the state of Israel made him, in Truman's own word, *"a damn fool"*, that he was a damn fool for creating that country, and that it was the biggest regret of his presidency, because it spun out of control almost immediately.[1]

Kiriakou sets the remark at the beginning of a sequence: Truman's recognition, then the Israeli strategic decision in the mid-1950s to affect American elections as much as possible, then the founding of [AIPAC](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/aipac) in the 1950s as a domestic lobbying organisation, then [Nixon's 1969 guarantee](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/nixon-israeli-security-guarantee) of Israeli national security, something no American president had said before.[2][3][4]

## See also

- [Israel-United States relations](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/israel-united-states-relations)
- [AIPAC](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/aipac)
- [Nixon's guarantee of Israeli national security](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/nixon-israeli-security-guarantee)
- [Truman's CIA op-ed](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/truman-cia-op-ed)

## Sources

1. Iran, Israel & Epstein Are All Connected (2026-03-24), at 44:54. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWucl8ZRiK8&t=2694s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-24-michael-franzese-iran-israel-epstein-are-all-connected/
2. Iran, Israel & Epstein Are All Connected (2026-03-24), at 43:53. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWucl8ZRiK8&t=2633s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-24-michael-franzese-iran-israel-epstein-are-all-connected/
3. Iran, Israel & Epstein Are All Connected (2026-03-24), at 44:23. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWucl8ZRiK8&t=2663s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-24-michael-franzese-iran-israel-epstein-are-all-connected/
4. Iran, Israel & Epstein Are All Connected (2026-03-24), at 45:26. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWucl8ZRiK8&t=2726s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-03-24-michael-franzese-iran-israel-epstein-are-all-connected/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/harry-truman-israel-regret/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt