501.BB Palestine/12–648: Telegram
The Acting Chairman of the United States Delegation at Paris (Dulles) to the Acting Secretary of State
urgent
Delga 1081. USDel has long considered (Gadel 6831) advantages and disadvantages of willingness to serve on Conciliation Commission. We believe it correct to state that our willingness to serve was based on three principal factors:
- (1)
- Existing truce commission formula which, if disregarded, might pen up whole question and thus increase possibility of Slav membership;
- (2)
- Presence on commission would give us greater opportunity of protecting interest of US in NE;
- (3)
- Presence on commission would give us greater opportunity of assuring security of NE.
We believe these three principal factors are still valid even though present Palestine draft resolution is more broadly worded than original UK draft. In some respects we consider it more important now than before to indicate our willingness to serve. We believe, however, that Slav and Latino (Guatemala, for example) objections to paragraphs of present draft providing for selection of members by a committee of permanent members might be one factor prejudicing passage of resolution as a whole. In that circumstance we believe new formula which might not include US should be considered.
One suggestion is that Israel and Arab States might informally indicate a selection such as Australia and Turkey respectively and that these two might select a third. We do not believe commission should be increased to five to include, as has been informally suggested, US, France, Poland, Norway and Australia or Costa Rica because commission of this size would probably become a quarrelsome investigative body rather than a true Conciliation Commission; might impede necessarily delicate negotiations between Israel and Transjordan, Israel and Egypt and between Transjordan and Egypt; and would formally provide a symbol through UN commission of Slav presence in Palestine.
We also believe consideration should be given to desirability of returning to new Mediator under present resolution rather than commission if Slav states insist on five-power formula or if membership of three-power commission were to devolve upon three small, relatively weak powers. Our experience with UN and Palestine commission (under November 29) should be conclusive in this respect.
Sent Delga 1081, repeated London as 1433.