Office of the Historian

501.BB Palestine/5–2948: Telegram

The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Smith) to the Secretary of State

top secret   us urgent
niact
London, May 29, 1948—noon.

2348. For the Secretary and Lovett from Douglas.

1.
Relative to our telephonic conversation yesterday in regard to Palestine and the news in the London Times that the US delegate is announcing his support for the Soviet proposal without making any reference to the British proposal, I cannot too strongly urge that if the Soviet proposal is defeated US delegate in supporting the British proposal will express some courteous acknowledgment of the long step forward which Britain has taken.
2.
I do not urge this out of any sentimental considerations or because I agree with British behavior prior to the relinquishment of the mandate but because I can assure you that after the sincere and strenuous effort that HMG has made, a cavalier treatment by US of Britain would aggravate an already strained situation between US and the only natural ally we have on earth.
3.
I gather from the British press that Jewish elements are determined to defeat the British proposal and are using the argument that it has an Arab cast because, they assert, it fails to prohibit a shipment of arms from source other than the United Kingdom to the Arab states.
 
HMG has told Cadogan that this was not the intention of British proposal and has instructed him to offer an amendment which will unmistakably remove this alleged infirmity.
4.
It may be that the British proposal will not muster enough support to carry it. In this event, the French proposal in regard to recovering Jerusalem alone would be before the Security Council, so I understand, for consideration. The British feel that however desirable may be action in regard to Jerusalem, it is lamentably defective if it does not deal with Palestine as a whole. This has not been finally cleared. The British will, in all reasonable expectancy, propose that the sense of the French resolution be incorporated with the British proposition.
 
HMG hopes that the consolidation of the French resolution with the British resolution as amended along the lines indicated above will receive our support and sufficient strength for its adoption. I share fully this hope.
Douglas