Editing Levi Eshkol (section)

===Prime minister===
[[File:Levi Eshkol with Richard Nixon in Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|upright|Eshkol with [[Richard Nixon]] in Jerusalem on August 2, 1966.]]
Eshkol formed Israel's twelfth government in 1963.<ref name=jta27june>{{cite news|title=New Israel Cabinet Sworn into Office in Knesset; German Issue Raised|url=http://www.jta.org/1963/06/27/archive/new-israel-cabinet-sworn-into-office-in-knesset-german-issue-raised|access-date=7 July 2013|newspaper=JTA|date=27 June 1963}}</ref> His first term in office saw continuous economic growth, epitomized by the opening of the [[National Water Carrier]] system in 1964. He and Finance Minister [[Pinchas Sapir]]'s subsequent "soft landing" of the overheated economy by means of [[recession|recessive]] policies precipitated a drastic slump in economic activity. Israel's centralized [[planned economy]] lacked the mechanisms to self-regulate the slowdown, which reached levels higher than expected. Eshkol faced growing domestic unrest as unemployment reached 12% in 1966, yet the recession eventually served in healing fundamental economic deficiencies and helped fuel the ensuing recovery of 1967–1973.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

Upon being elected into office, Levi Eshkol fulfilled [[Ze'ev Jabotinsky]]'s wish and brought his body and that of his wife to Israel where they were buried in [[Mount Herzl]] Cemetery.

====Foreign relations====
[[File:Idi Amin - Levi Eshkol - Entebbe 1966-06-12.jpg|thumb|Eshkol at [[Entebbe]] during a visit to [[Uganda]] in 1966]]
During his first months as premier, Eshkol was engaged in a now-declassified diplomatic standoff with the United States that had begun in 1960 under Ben-Gurion.<ref name="Haaretz2019">{{Cite news | url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-how-a-standoff-with-the-u-s-almost-blew-up-israel-s-nuclear-program-1.7193419 |title = How a Standoff with the U.S. Almost Blew up Israel's Nuclear Program|newspaper = Haaretz|date = 2019-05-03|last1 = Cohen|first1 = Avner}}</ref>
Eshkol worked to improve [[foreign relations of Israel|Israel's foreign relations]] by establishing diplomatic relations with [[West Germany]] in 1965, as well as cultural ties with the [[Soviet Union]], which also allowed some [[History of the Jews in Russia|Soviet Jews]] to [[aliyah|immigrate to Israel]]. He was the first Israeli Prime Minister invited on an official state visit to the United States in May 1964.<ref>[https://www.jpost.com/In-Jerusalem/A-house-with-a-legacy-476996 A house with a legacy], [[Jerusalem Post]]</ref>

With Johnson's administration also represented in this case by national security aide [[Robert W. Komer]] and others, Eshkol signed what became known as the Eshkol-Comer (''sic''){{dubious|Why not correct it to "Eshkol-Komer"? Is it so well-entrenched? Where?|date=January 2016}} memorandum of understanding (MOU) about [[nuclear weapons and Israel|Israeli nuclear capabilities]]. The 10 March 1965 MOU, which has been variously interpreted since, stated, 'Israel would not be the first country to "introduce" nuclear weapons to the Middle East'.<ref>Avni, Benny,[http://www.newsweek.com/iran-and-syria-eye-israels-nukes-243682 "Iran and Syria Eye Israel’s Nukes"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121182039/http://www.newsweek.com/iran-and-syria-eye-israels-nukes-243682 |date=21 January 2016 }}, ''[[Newsweek]]'', 17 October 2013. This source and others misspell Komer's last name. For confirmation of correct spelling/identification, for example Cohen, Avner, [https://archive.org/details/israelbomb00cohe/page/207 <!-- quote=eshkol-komer. --> ''Israel and the Bomb''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505022421/https://books.google.com/books?id=RGcwET30-noC&pg=PA207&lpg=PA207&dq=eshkol-komer&source=bl&ots=vTeDPHDmEu&sig=ZlofFw7X6fkafEWHv3zMZefrKyE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GhsgVbyvL4GisAWJp4HoDA&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA |date=5 May 2016}} ([[Columbia University]] Press) p. 207; or [[Seymour Hersh|Hersh, Seymour]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=doO-SLaJgbcC&q=Robert+komer+national+security+johnson+israel+eshkol+memorandum+nuclear ''The Samson option: Israel's nuclear arsenal''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512180530/https://books.google.com/books?id=doO-SLaJgbcC&q=Robert%20komer%20national%20security%20johnson%20israel%20eshkol%20memorandum%20nuclear&dq=Robert%20komer%20national%20security%20johnson%20israel%20eshkol%20memorandum%20nuclear&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HiAgVYfuEMWEsAXV8IHoBA&ved=0CEwQ6AEwB |date=12 May 2016}} (NY: Random House, 1991), p. 134; both via Google Books. Retrieved 2015-04-04.</ref>

====Six-Day War====
[[File:Cheering reserve soldiers greeting Levi Eshkol and min. Menahem Begin in Sinai. June 1967. D705-048.jpg|thumb|Eshkol and [[Menachem Begin]] visiting Israeli troops in Sinai shortly after the Six-Day War]]
The special relationship he developed with Johnson would prove pivotal in securing US political and military support for Israel during the "[[Waiting period (Six-Day War)|Waiting period]]" before the [[Six-Day War]] of June 1967.<ref name="Johnson">{{cite book |title=The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership |last=Avner |first=Yehuda |author-link=Yehuda Avner |year=2010 |publisher=The Toby Press |isbn=978-1-59264-278-6 |page=599}}</ref>

According to [[Michael Oren]], Eshkol's intransigence in the face of military pressure to launch an Israeli attack is considered to have been instrumental in increasing Israel's strategic advantage and obtaining international legitimacy, but at the time, he was perceived as hesitant, an image cemented after a stuttered radio speech on 28 May.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Michael Oren |first=Michael B. |last=Oren |year=2003 |title=Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East |publisher=Random House |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/sixdaysofwarjune0000oren_u3x7/page/316 316] |isbn=0-345-46192-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/sixdaysofwarjune0000oren_u3x7/page/316 }}</ref> Egyptian President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Nasser]]'s ever-increasing provocations created diplomatic support for Israel. Eshkol eventually established a [[National Unity Government]], together with [[Menachem Begin]]'s [[Herut]] party, and conceded the Defense portfolio to [[Moshe Dayan]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YAd8efHdVzIC&pg=PA342|title=The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History [4 volumes]: A Political, Social, and Military History|last1=Tucker|first1=Spencer C.|last2=Roberts|first2=Priscilla|date=2008-05-12|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781851098422|language=en}}</ref>