Office of the Historian

867N.01/8–2145

Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs (Henderson) to the Secretary of State

[Washington,] August 21, 1945.

Mr. Secretary: The attached telegram18 addressed to you by Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, who is now in London, was routed to us but does not appear to call for any particular action or acknowledgment on our part.

In the telegram Rabbi Wise expresses the “warmest appreciation” of the Jewish Agency “to you and Chief for taking up our problem at Potsdam and for what we know to be your continued and friendly interest”. He also sends you the text of a statement,19 which we had already seen in the press, issued by the Jewish Agency in connection [Page 725] with the President’s recent remarks on Palestine and he adds some comments as to the number of troops which would be required to keep order in that country.

Rabbi Wise apparently takes the view that no large military forces would be especially required in Palestine to keep the Arabs in check in case it should be decided to permit unlimited Jewish immigration. If you would care to have us do so, we would be glad to ask bur War, Department for up-to-date information on the military position in the area, with particular reference to the probable force required to maintain order in Palestine in the event that the lowering of the bars against Jewish immigration into Palestine should result in disturbances on the part of the Arabs.20

Loy W. Henderson
  1. Not printed.↩
  2. Not found attached to file copy.↩
  3. Marginal notation: “Yes.” A request for information was despatched to the War Department in a memorandum of August 30, 1945, by the Chief of the Division of Foreign Activity Correlation (Lyon) (867N.01/10–945). For reply, see memorandum by the War Department, 19 September, p. 742.↩