867N.01/5–646
Memorandum by the Acting Secretary of State to President Truman 30
Subject: Proposed Procedure Regarding the Palestine Report.
I am attaching for your approval the draft of a telegram which I believe you might wish to send to Mr. Attlee regarding the Palestine [Page 596] report. This telegram is based on the assumption that the report constitutes a valid basis for determining this Government’s policy toward Palestine and for initiating the consultations between Arabs and Jews to which both the American and British Governments are committed.
It is likely that the British Government will approach us in the near future with a view to determining the attitude of the two Governments toward the Committee’s report. It is almost certain that the British Government will desire to consult the Arabs and Jews before deciding to take action on any of the Committee’s recommendations. In our opinion, it is desirable that the two Governments reach as soon as possible a decision regarding the report as a whole so that all parties may know to what extent the Governments intend to base their future policy upon the report.
The procedure which we propose is: first, an approach to the British Government along the lines of the attached draft message; second, consultations with Jews and Arabs, carried out concurrently but not jointly by the two Governments; third, consultation between the two Governments as to the policy which they will adopt toward the report as a whole; and fourth, a public announcement of that policy, which would include references to the placing of Palestine under United Nations trusteeship. If you desire, the Department of State will be glad to undertake the consultations with Jewish and Arab organizations in behalf of this Government, and will inform you promptly and fully of the replies received.
- Draft transmitted to Mr. Acheson by Mr. Henderson on May 3. The latter’s transmitting memorandum noted that “The situation developing in the Near East with regard to the report makes it all the more desirable in our opinion that we should take some action as soon as possible looking toward consultation with Arabs and Jews”. Mr. Henderson also added two marginal notations. One stated: “We are of course playing with dynamite”; the other stated: “You may prefer to discuss this orally with the President”. In an appended memorandum of May 6 to Mr. Henderson, Mr. Acheson noted: “I took this over to the President who kept the memorandum and the telegram. He seemed to approve it but wants to talk it over with some of his people.” President Truman gave his approval on May 8; for the telegram sent to London the same day, see infra.↩