136. Memorandum of a Conversation, Vice President Nixon’s Residence, Washington, March 13, 19601
SUBJECT
- Israeli Security; Arab Refugees; Immigration; Summit
PARTICIPANTS
- The Vice President
- The Under Secretary
- Israeli Prime Minister Ben Gurion
- Israeli Ambassador Harman
- Israeli Minister Herzog
A number of items of interest were developed during two and a half hours of conversation at the Vice President’s house, during and after luncheon.
The Prime Minister again emphasized his preoccupation with obtaining anti-aircraft missiles and electronic air warning equipment as rapidly as possible. When I told him that this was being studied urgently in the Pentagon, he said that if he had to get an opinion from his military it would not take him more than two hours. Ben Gurion made it clear in the course of this interview that while other military equipment might not be needed for a year or two, he felt that these items were needed immediately.
During a discussion of the refugee problem, the Prime Minister followed the same line he had taken in earlier discussions regarding the origins of the problem and the moral issues involved.2 However, he made it clear that once a peace settlement was reached, Israel would be prepared to accept the repatriation of reasonable numbers of Arabs who might be prepared to resettle in Israel. Pointing out that such resettlement could not only take place in the desert areas which were now being rehabilitated by Israel, the Prime Minister expressed doubt as to whether many Arabs would be interested in the very hard work involved in making a success of this form of resettlement.
The Vice President pointed out that the Arabs were effectively using the refugee problem as a political weapon and stressed the importance to Israel of finding some means to offset this political use of the refugees, presumably by making clear Israel’s willingness to accept Arab refugees once a peace settlement had been reached. The [Page 296] Vice President made it clear that we are not asking Israel to accept refugees prior to a peace settlement who might enter Israel for the purpose of stirring up more trouble there.
When asked by the Vice President what he foresaw in the way of population growth for Israel the Prime Minister said he foresaw the possibility of about 2 million more immigrants. He thought the time would eventually come when the Soviet Union would allow the Jews to emigrate and at that time at least a million would come from the Soviet Union. The other million would come from the satellite countries and Moslem states, particularly in North Africa. Prime Minister Ben Gurion said it would be possible to settle all these in the present boundaries of Israel in the newly developing desert areas. This would, of course, require water from the Jordan, but this should be available in about 4 years.
The Prime Minister further clarified his views regarding a joint statement on the Middle East with Khrushchev. He made clear he felt this could best be accomplished at the Summit rather than as a bilateral statement during the President’s visit to the Soviet Union.
- Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 559, CF 1615. Confidential. Drafted by Dillon.↩
- In a March 11 memorandum, Jones urged Dillon to brief the Vice President on the refugee question. Nixon should emphasize, if he got the chance, that progress might be possible if Israel took some initiative. (Ibid.,NEA Files: Lot 63 D 52, Ben Gurion Visit) He sent a similar memorandum to Herter, stressing that Ben Gurion had been “quite evasive” on the subject. (Ibid., Lot 62 D 435, 1960 Chron)↩