It is difficult to find a person in the world who has not heard of Albert Einstein. Many will be surprised to see such a great scientist miss this golden opportunity!!! Although Albert Einstein was interested in politics in his youth, he lost that interest towards the end of his life.

He was offered the second president of Israel at the beginning of the formation of the State of Israel in 1948. Albert Einstein tried very hard to gain American support during the establishment of Israel. The first president of Israel, Weizmann, and Albert Einstein were good friends.

Albert Einstein with Weizmann; image source: Pinterest

After Weizmann died, Albert Einstein was requested to become the president of Israel. He refused a meeting with the Israeli embassy.

Information: Internet.

But he respectfully declined. In his reply to the letter, he said,

“I am very happy with the offer made by our State of Israel. I feel both sad and ashamed at the same time because I cannot accept this offer. I have spent my whole life in unraveling the mysteries of material things, so I lack the practical skills and experience required for working with the masses or for performing institutional duties. For these reasons alone, I will fail to perform institutional duties and old age will not allow me to regain my former strength. I am truly sorry for this, since I have a deep connection with the Jewish people and have observed our precarious situation in various countries of the world.”

Albert Einstein played an important role in the establishment of Israel. He wrote letters to various countries to gain diplomatic support for Israel. But the language of his letter suggests that he may not have wanted to take on this responsibility because the prime minister has more power than the president of Israel.

If Einstein had been president, would that have affected his scientific work? Would he have had to withdraw from the world of science? The answer is, no. The then Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben Gurion, promised him that if he took over as president, the entire cost of his scientific research would be paid for from state funds.

If he had been the president of Israel, would Israel have refrained from attacking Palestine? While searching for an answer to this question, many people think that even though he was a supporter of the Zionist state, he could never have accepted the aggression against the Arabs. Perhaps he would have lost the public support of the Israeli society and even had to resign! But these are just speculations. Since the scientist Einstein politely declined the responsibility of the president of Israel, the answer to these questions was never found.

All the Jews of the world, including Israel, loved him. They also expected that the responsibility of the constitutional head of their state would fall into the hands of such a world-famous person. But Einstein was always indifferent to these state responsibilities or power.