Foreign Relations of the United States, 1948, The Near East, South Asia, and Africa, Volume V, Part 2

501.BB Palestine/7–748: Telegram

The Chargé in Egypt (Patterson) to the Secretary of State

secret
most immediate
niact

Cairo, July 7, 1948—2 p. m.

922. On informing Count Bernadotte at 9:30 this morning of content Deptel 929, July 6,¹ he stated that Arab League had not rejected his proposals for continuation of truce. Bernadotte, however, apparently expected truce to lapse. He viewed Arab counter-proposals (Embtel 920, July 6²) as hardly more than repetition of year-old arguments for unitary state. He could not, accordingly, consider them as bases for discussion. The Jews had made no counter-proposals whatever. Bernadotte was hopeful that Arabs would accept demilitarization of Jerusalem as proposed by him. He fancied, however, that they would not assent to demilitarization of Haifa.

Accordingly, he had proposed and was hopeful that both Arabs and Jews would at least concede a request which he had just made for a three-day prolongation of the truce which would enable observers and other personnel and materiel to be evacuated to ports. Colonel Bonde had already elaborated a plan whereby observers and other Mediator personnel would be evacuated to Haifa, Amman, and Cairo with eventual concentration at Beirut for transportation to Athens.³

Bernadotte felt neither side would care to reject this modest extension of truce and that indeed each would be reluctant to assume responsibility for resumption of hostilities, truce or no truce. He felt that the four-weeks truce had entered into effect too soon since the Arabs, at least, were still “feeling their oats” and had not, through continuation of hostilities, had enough of the fight knocked out of them.

Sent Department 922, repeated Jerusalem 107, Haifa 74.

Patterson

1. Not printed; it requested that Count Bernadotte be apprised of press and other reports concerning termination of the truce in Palestine and of the United States “hope that he will issue necessary orders to assure safe withdrawal of observers and equipment to ports where they may be safely embarked if and when he is convinced such action should be taken.” (501.BB Palestine/7–648)
2. Not printed, but see editorial note, p. 1192.
3. The Department, on July 7, told Jerusalem that Count Bernadotte had formally requested removal of UN personnel and equipment from the Near East by the United States Navy (telegram 710, 501.BB Palestine/7–748). In a letter of July 9, to Secretary Forrestal, Acting Secretary Lovett requested that the evacuated personnel and equipment remain in the immediate vicinity until it became certain that the truce would not be extended (501.BB Palestine/7–948).