867N.01/1542
The Secretary of State to Senator William H. King
My Dear Senator King: I have received your letter of May 4, 193956 enclosing copies of two telegrams signed respectively by certain members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives with reference to the Palestine question with the request that they be brought to the attention of the British Government.
We have kept constantly before the British Government the interest which our people have in Palestine and I have every reason to believe that that Government is fully cognizant of public opinion on the matter in this country.
As you are aware, the British Government held a conference on Palestine recently in London in which Arab and Jewish delegations participated with a view to reaching an agreement regarding future policy in Palestine. That conference, as you know, ended on March 17, 1939 without such a mutual agreement having been reached.
Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary, is understood to have stated in the House of Commons on May 3 that the policy of the British Government regarding Palestine will be considered in the light of the world situation and will take full account of British obligations toward both Arabs and Jews. Moreover, we have been given official assurances on a number of occasions by the British authorities that this Government would be kept fully informed of any proposals which may be put forward to the Council of the League of Nations for the modification of the Palestine Mandate and that, if any question should arise regarding the treaty rights of the [Page 748] United States, the British Government would enter into discussions with us immediately. Our treaty rights in this regard were very explicitly set forth, as you may recall, in a statement regarding Palestine issued by the Department on October 14, 1938, a copy of which is enclosed for convenience of reference.57
You may be sure that we shall continue to give full and appropriate consideration to all the diverse factors involved in the Palestine question.
Sincerely yours,