867N.01/5–1646: Telegram
President Truman to the British Prime Minister (Attlee)42
us urgent
I have given careful consideration to your two messages concerning Palestine and am pleased to note that you and your colleagues share our feeling regarding close collaboration between our two Govts. We are proceeding with arrangements for consultations with Arabs and Jews so that the communication to them may be made on May 20. I hope that this will be agreeable to you and that your Govt will take concurrent action. I am still most anxious to have these consultations completed as early as possible but in view of your feeling that two weeks would be too short I am agreeable to extending the period to one month. We are drawing up a covering memorandum to be handed to Arab and Jewish representatives at the time their views on Committee’s report are requested and we will furnish your Govt with an advance [Page 608] copy of this memorandum. We assume Brit Govt similarly will let us have an advance copy of any covering memorandum it may decide to use.
As regards question of studies to be made by experts of the two Govts, with respect to certain matters arising out of report, we are proceeding to organize an appropriate group from among officials of this Govt. However, as Brit Emb has already been informed by Dept of State, we do not believe it would be advisable to have these discussions between experts of the two Govts precede the requests for the views of Arabs and Jews. It is our belief that latter (i.e. the consultations) might serve to clarify issues involved and narrow field in which expert discussions would take place. At same time, however, we believe at least preliminary expert discussions can be initiated as soon as the views have been requested. In this connection it would be of the greatest usefulness if we might have as soon as possible some indication of subjects which your govt thinks should form basis of these discussions, as well as any further detailed suggestions.
We have noted your proposal for an eventual conference which would include Jewish and Arab representatives. We believe that this is something which our two Govts should have in mind during the consultations with interested parties and that it is at least possible such a conference might be convened at a suitable time if results of consultations with Arabs and Jews indicate that a conference would be helpful. For the moment I do not feel able to give you a more definite reply on this point.
- Sent to London as Department’s telegram 4074, with the instruction: “President desires the following message to be transmitted to Prime Minister Attlee in reply to latter’s telegrams of May 9 and May 14 [13].” Telegram 4074 was repeated to Paris for Secretary Byrnes as No. 2383.↩