784A.5/5–2550
The Acting Secretary of Slate to the Secretary of Defense (Johnson)
My Dear Mr. Secretary: In the light of your conversation with Secretary Acheson at the White House on April 14,1 it is suggested that you may wish to undertake a review of the status of recommendations regarding arms exports to Israel and the Arab states. The Department of State believes that broad policy considerations suggest the desirability of a change in the existing trend.
The President directed on September 1, 1949 that arms exports from this country to Israel and the Arab states should be limited to those deemed necessary for the maintenance of internal law and order and for the purpose of providing for reasonable requirements of self-defense. This was in accordance with the position this Government had taken in the United Nations Security Council on the occasion of the lifting of the United Nations ban on shipments of arms to the Near East.
Since the ban was lifted, the Department has received a number of requests from Israel and the Arab states for the export of arms and other war material. It has been possible to approve some of these [Page 914] requests because they involved items of low military potential and were essentially for non-military end use. Requests for the export of equipment of high military potential, such as tanks, guns and jet fighter aircraft, have also been received. The majority of these latter requests have come from the Government of Israel, although some have been received from the Governments of Egypt and Syria. These requests have been referred by the Department of State to the Department of Defense through the established military channel of the Munitions Board for military advice as to whether the arms desired represented legitimate requirements within the meaning of the President’s policy referred to above. The recommendations of the Department of Defense on the Israeli cases have been of such a character that the results for the Israelis have been almost completely negative. The implications of adhering to this position on the Israeli requests are to continue to deny to Israel access to combat material from United States commercial sources, despite the action taken by the United Nations Security Council in lifting the restrictions on arms shipments to the Near East. With respect to the requests received from the Arab states for significant military items, the Department of Defense’s recommendations have been generally for approval of the export licenses. The Department of Defense in its comments on the Israeli requests has noted the inadequacy of information on the size and composition of the Israeli military establishment. The Department of the Air Force has expressed the opinion, however, that the Israeli air force is the most powerful in the Near East except that of Turkey.
There is attached a list of the pending Israeli requests for arms from United States sources, including the proposed sources of material and such comments as have been received from the Department of Defense. There is also attached a list of pending requests from Egypt and Syria.2
We are in agreement that it is in the strategic interests of the United States that the Near East be militarily strengthened for defense against communist aggression and that the countries concerned obtain their arms from friendly sources. In furtherance of this objective, the Department is of the opinion that it would be in the national interest to permit Israel, as well as the Arab states concerned, to acquire in this country limited quantities of arms to meet their legitimate requirements for maintaining internal law and order and for self-defense.
The above leads us to the conclusion that further consideration of pending requests is warranted. The Department would favor the export to Israel and the Arab states of such items as AT–6 aircraft, [Page 915] machine guns and ammunition, radar equipment, half tracks and other material of a similar military potential. It is contemplated that approvals could be granted for moderate amounts of material at intervals over a period of time.
Sincerely yours,