867N.01/2068
Memorandum by the Adviser on Political Relations (Murray)6
As you may be aware, the President, in a recent conversation with Colonel Harold B. Hoskins after his return from Saudi Arabia, where [Page 816] he was sent by the President on a confidential mission, indicated that, as a solution of the Palestine problem, his own thinking at present leans toward the idea of a trusteeship for Palestine which would make that country a real holy land for all three religions, with a Christian, a Moslem and a Jew as the three responsible trustees.
I think you will find of very considerable interest the attached memorandum8 based on the President’s idea of a solution to the Palestine question prepared by Mr. Gordon Merriam, Assistant Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs.
It seems to me that the President’s present suggestion of a solution of the Palestine problem is particularly timely …
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
- Addressed to the Assistant Secretary of State (Berle) and the Acting Secretary of State (Stettinius). Notation by Mr. Berle: “I think this better await the Secretary’s return. It is pretty serious.” Secretary Hull was at this time en route to Moscow to participate in the Conference of Foreign Ministers, held October 18–November 1; for correspondence on this Conference, see vol. i, pp. 513 ff.↩
- Infra.↩