The President of Israel

When President Chaim Weizmann died in 1952, Einstein was asked to be Israel's second president, but he declined, stating that he had "neither the natural ability nor the experience to deal with human beings."

What would the world be like if he had said yes?
 

ninebucks

Banned
His reputation would be completely tarnished. The reverential treatment he receives today is completely gone as much of the world regards him as a Zionist oppressor.

Or, he sees sense, and uses his clout, (he may not have de jure power, but he would definately have clout), to push through a reasonable solution vis a vis the Palestinians. A lot of the damage is already done, but this is before the Palestinian demographic explosion, so things are much more workable.
 
His reputation would be completely tarnished. The reverential treatment he receives today is completely gone as much of the world regards him as a Zionist oppressor.

Or, he sees sense, and uses his clout, (he may not have de jure power, but he would definately have clout), to push through a reasonable solution vis a vis the Palestinians. A lot of the damage is already done, but this is before the Palestinian demographic explosion, so things are much more workable.


Let's try to stay historical, not let personal ideological biases shine through here.


If he did accept the post, the main divergences would be the effects he had on Israeli society by his high-profile. I don't think his world standing be too much affected, at least in the immediate aftermath. As the world and science moves into the post-colonialist phase, you might see a bit of a reaction in the more radical segments, but science-wise, (and also cultural lexicon-wise) I don't see much a divergence from the current reputation.

An interesting thing to consider would be the effects on the Israeli nuclear program - though I think Einstein's focus on nuclear deterrence would jive with OTL and current nuclear philosophies.

Would there be even more a focus on science and technology, as much as Israel is focused on such already? Science Kibbutzim?

I personally think him and Ben-Gurion would have got along great - could have compared personal hair styles...
 
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