501.BB Palestine/6–949

Memorandum by the Deputy Under Secretary of State (Rusk) to the Under Secretary of State (Webb)1

top secret

Subject: Israeli Reply to United States Note.

Discussion:

Telegram No. 441 of June 8 from Tel Aviv2 conveys the reply of the Israeli Government to the note which the President directed Ambassador McDonald to deliver to Prime Minister Ben Gurion.

The reply in effect rejects the cardinal points of the United States; note concerning the territorial settlement and disposition of the Arab refugee problem. It states that the United States position on the territorial question does not represent a policy of the United Nations and that the Government of Israel cannot accept the principle of territorial compensation related to the 1947 boundaries. With regard to the refugees, the note repeats the familiar arguments blaming the Arab states for the plight of these people and stating the reasons why in the opinion of the Israeli Government it is impossible for a large number of refugees to return to their homes. The note maintains that Israel has gone as far as it is possible for it to go under the present circumstances in regard to repatriation and reiterates the position that nothing more can be done until a final peace settlement is reached.

Although firmly rejecting the points made in the United States note, the Israeli note is not aggressive in tone and concludes with the hope that consideration of the Israeli reply will restore the “sympathetic understanding of the United States Government for the problems and anxieties facing Israel”.

The basic positions of the United States and Israel thus remain unchanged, and there is no reason for the United States to abandon the firm position it has taken as regards Israel. You may wish to inform the President this morning that the Department will immediately consider what steps should next be taken and will shortly make recommendations to him as to a possible course of action with regard to this problem.

  1. Sent also by Mr. Satterthwaite.
  2. See footnote 1 to Tel Aviv telegram, June 8, p. 1102.