501.BB Palestine/1–649: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the United States Representative at the United Nations ( Austin )
us urgent
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3. Confirming Rusk–Ross telephone conversation today, following is attitude to be adopted by USRep in SC Committee on Palestine scheduled for Fri., Jan. 7.
Principal objective is to get SC and its Committee to deal with Palestine in such way as not to impair possibility of success of Conciliation Commission. Inactivity Lebanese, Syrians, Iraqi, Saudi Arabians and negotiations now in process between Israel and Transjordan would make it unfortunate for an exaggeration of present Israeli-Egyptian difficulty to throw entire Palestine situation into fresh turmoil. US is exercising maximum influence on both Israel and Egypt to cease present hostilities.
SC Committee should give careful study to the reports of the Acting Mediator and his Chief of Staff on the actual fighting in the Negev and to the statements of PGI and Egypt before making Committee recommendations to SC as whole. If Bunche–Riley reports and statements of parties do not sufficiently clarify the picture, the Committee should, through its Chairman, request additional info from those having access to the facts.
[Page 623]If the facts are fully developed and lead members of the Committee to propose that Committee recommend further action under Chap. VII, USRep would have to state that he must refer such recommendation to his Govt for instructions. If, nevertheless, such proposals come to an immediate vote, USEep should abstain.1
In view of strength of recent US approaches to Cairo and Tel Aviv and of early departure Conciliation Commission, believe majority other members SC Committee would accept our position if approached privately.2
- The Chairman of the Committee on the Palestinian Question reported to the Security Council on January 7 that “the Committee was of the opinion that no further action by it was required at the moment.” The Council released the report of the Committee the same day as S/1191.↩
- This telegram was cleared in substance with Mr. Clifford.↩