I am pleased to report that the new long-awaited biography of the extraordinary career of David Horowitz (1903-2002), veteran United Nations correspondent and founder of United Israel World Union has been published and is now available through all major book outlets. It is a gripping readable account that will rivet the reader on a journey through the last half of the twentieth century and into our new millennium.
Ralph Buntyn, The Book of David: David Horowitz: Dean of United Nations Press Corps and Funder: United Israel World Union (Asheville, InnerQuest Books, 2018).
Not only was David Horowitz present at the 1945 founding meeting of the United Nations, but he was the first accredited correspondent and founder of the United Nations Correspondents Association, serving as President several terms and receiving countless awards and accolades. What are less known are such things as his pioneering efforts at brokering peace between Israel and the Arabs through his personal correspondence with King Abdullah I, grandfather of King Hussein of Jordan, his behind-the-scenes influence at the UN, and with President Truman, leading to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, his tireless efforts to bring Romanian archbishop Valerian Trifa to justice for Nazi war crimes, and his work in behalf of freeing Soviet Jewry—including direct confrontations with Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the United Nations. David was a friend of every UN Secretary General, including Swedish born Dag Hammarskjöld, every president and premier of Israel, from Ben Gurion to Netanyahu, and countless world leaders, presidents, and ambassadors over his 55 years of active service. The stories are endless, and Ralph Buntyn has captured them all for us, written in an engaging style but with full documentation from thousands of documents, including private letters and even hand-written notes. The Book of David tells it all for the first time.
Buntyn, has spent the past decade putting together a gripping narrative of the many faceted career of Horowitz, with unlimited access to original archive materials, most of which have never been published before. What he accomplishes is truly remarkable.
Buntyn writes in his Introduction:
Attempting to write an unfolding fifty-four-year story of the life and times of an individual whose journalistic offerings alone in this period would fill volumes is an unrealistic and futile expectation. Horowitz had written over 2,500 syndicated columns alone. The UIWU archives, consisting of United Israel Bulletins, copies of letters and correspondence, photos, and daily press releases from the UN to multiple sources globally easily account for over 50,000 documents. Yet, there was this treasure trove of information just sitting there that’s never really been adequately mined.
I decided on a course of action. All documents would be arranged in chronological order. I would begin at the beginning in 1943-44, a time when Horowitz founded UIWU and began his journalistic career at the United Nations and conclude in 2004. It centers on key events that took place in the life of David Horowitz, his UN career, UIWU, and the events of the Middle East, with particular attention focused on the new State of Israel. Key world events appear in the narrative adding historical context.
David Horowitz wore two hats. Besides his notable work at the United Nations he continued his interest in biblical studies through the founding of United Israel World Union in 1944. United Israel is acknowledged as the first American Jewish organization whose primary purpose is to educate non-Jews regarding the foundational faith of the Hebrew Bible and the values and prophetic ideals of the teaching of Moses and the biblical Prophets. UIWU is a non-sectarian educational outreach now in its 75th year and still thriving with an active and impressive board of directors and a worldwide membership. Its goal is neither to “convert” non-Jews to Judaism nor to begin a new religion, but to represent to the broader world the prophetic vision of a universal “House of prayer for all peoples,” founded on the ideals of the Torah and Prophets.
I first met Ralph Buntyn through personal correspondence in the 1990s, but happily face-to-face in 1993 in New York at the grand celebration of David Horowitz’s 90th birthday and the 50th anniversary of United Israel World Union. What a gala that was, bringing together David’s friends and associates from throughout the world in tribute to both his work at the United Nations and his educational work through UIWU. Ralph and I have spent hundreds of hours together since, including times with David Horowitz, trips to Israel together, and various executive and personal meetings here in the United States over the years. There is no one who has dug deeper and exhibited more passion for the task of this book—relating the remarkable 60-year career of David Horowitz as Dean of the United Nations Press Corp and founder of United Israel World Union. I heartily and with the greatest pleasure commend to your reading The Book of David.
For a gallery of fascinating photos illustrating the career of David Horowitz see the descriptive gallery series “Portraits of the Past.”
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