501.BB Palestine(E)/9–349: Circular telegram
The Secretary of State to Certain Diplomatic Offices 1
Initial reaction Arab states to announcement of ESM for NE unenthusiastic in part and even suspicious of Mission’s motivation. You are instructed bring this to early attention of appropriate FonOff officials, expressing Dept’s strong hope that govt to which you are accredited, as one of sponsors of ESM, will instruct its Missions and info services in NE to make every effort elucidate objectives of and extend maximum dipl and publicity support to ESM.
Important to note emphasis on technical basis of Mission, composed of engineers, agriculturists, and other technicians, and to avoid [Page 1359] at present juncture to greatest possible extent affront to Arab susceptibilities that will arise inevitably from emphasis on Israeli-Arab cooperative effort.2
- At London, Ankara, and Paris.↩
- London, on September 7, conveyed the contents of this telegram to the Foreign Office, which stated that it would instruct its Near Eastern Missions to extend support to the work of the Economic Survey Mission (telegram 3596, September 7, 6 p. m., from London). Two days later London reported further reflection by the Foreign Office and its decision to “await Department’s reactions to wider approach to Israel and Arabs on Palestine settlement, which British Embassy Washington was instructed on August 30 to discuss with Department, before instructing its missions in Near East to extend diplomatic support ESM” (telegram 3642). The two telegrams from London are filed under 501.BB Palestine(E)/9–749, /9–949.↩