362. Memorandum From the Director of the Executive Secretariat (Howe) to the Under Secretary of State (Herter)1
PALESTINE REFUGEE PROBLEM
The Secretary held a meeting on this problem in his office on Wednesday, August 7. Present were: Henry Villard; NEA—Messrs. Rountree, Berry, Rockwell and Ludlow; IO—Messrs. Wilcox and Gamon.
In introducing the subject, Mr. Villard stated his view that the refugee problem should be tackled quickly both because of the fact that the UNRWA will go out of existence in 1960 and because there have been hints from various quarters that the moment may now be propitious for some progress to be made. Mr. Villard proposed that: 1) an approach be made to Eban when he returns in September with the hope of gaining Israel’s acceptance of a plan to either repatriate the refugees or compensate them for the rights and property they have left behind 2) if the Israeli response is encouraging, further exploratory conversations should be held with the Jordanians and Iraqis to determine [Page 707] whether they would be willing to move ahead with the Jordan Valley development scheme as well as projects for refugee employment and resettlement in Iraq.
There was some disagreement among the conferees, however, over whether such approaches should be limited to Israel, Jordan, and Iraq. Mr. Rountree stated firmly his belief that Jordan and Iraq could never by themselves reach a public “political” settlement with Israel on the refugee question because of the pressures which would be brought to bear on them by the other Arab states. On the other hand, the Secretary opined, it appeared dangerous to attempt to expand the discussions into a search for an overall settlement of the refugee problem as Nasser’s influence would probably overturn the prospects for any solution. Yet, the Secretary stressed, it would be impossible to get money from Congress for the implementation of any large refugee relief and resettlement scheme unless the Department was in a position to say that the expenditure of these funds would put us on the track of finally solving the problem and also terminating Israel’s legal and moral obligations in this regard.
The Secretary reduced it to a question of whether a de facto or de jure solution is sought. A de facto solution might quietly solve the problem—at least in so far as the refugees in Jordan and Iraq are concerned—but the money for its implementation could probably not be obtained from Congress. On the other hand, a de jure solution could probably not be arrived at because a public political agreement between Israel and the Arab states seems impossible to obtain.
The Secretary also noted that the question of sponsorship of any agreement depended on the scope of the proposals. If we deal only with Israel, Jordan and Iraq, the US could play a direct role initially and other countries could later join us in sponsoring the agreement. On the other hand, if we prefer a broader approach initially, we cannot be the prime mover; we shall have to envisage bringing in Italy or Norway or India or Pakistan—or more than one of them—as soon as possible to prevent a violent reaction on the part of Egypt and Syria.
The Secretary indicated that he would be willing to have private discussions take place initially with Eban following the return of the Ambassador from Israel. Before that time, however, he said he would want to see on paper, succinctly, what we might say to Eban. In the Secretary’s view, our suggestions should be limited to the problem of Arab refugees in Jordan, and should include a formula under which Israel could offer to these refugees the alternative of repatriation or compensation.
Mr. Dulles closed the meeting by saying that the problem still appeared to him to require a good deal more thought on the part of those who were present.
[Page 708]Mr. Villard has now gone on leave until Monday, August 26. He has directed UNP to prepare two papers in his absence:2
- 1.
- The first will focus on a possible approach to Israel with a view to exploring the possibilities for Israel’s public acceptance of the principle of repatriation as well as Israeli compensation of those refugees not electing to return. On this latter point, then, the paper would include the “formula” aspect desired by the Secretary. The paper would also attempt an assessment of the financial support for such a scheme which might be forthcoming from Congress.
- 2.
- The second paper will be addressed to the Secretary’s expressed interest in having third parties, i.e. other nations, assist in the initial approaches to the countries concerned and in the carrying out of such programs of repatriation, compensation and resettlement as may be agreed upon.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 884.411/8–857. Secret. A copy of the memorandum is item No. 3 of the “Palestine Refugee Problem, Villard Study, 1957-58”. (Ibid., 320.51/7–257)↩
- Draft memoranda on the two subjects described here are ibid.,NEA/IAI Files: Lot 70 D 229, Refugees. Ref 1 General Policy & Plans 1950–1957.↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩