784A.13/5–851
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State1
Subject: Visit of Prime Minister of Israel
| Participants: | Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion |
| The Secretary | |
| Ambassador of Israel, Abba Eban | |
| NE—Mr. Lewis Jones | |
| NE—Mr. Waldo |
The Prime Minister expressed his thanks to me and the US Government for the extensive aid which the US had given to Israel since the founding of that state. The Prime Minister said that this aid was symbolic of the community of ideals which existed between Israel and the United States.
The Prime Minister told me that he had discussed questions of peace and the defense of the Middle East with General Marshall2 and had informed him of the close relationship which now exists between the UK and Israel. He said this is now on the same basis as it had been “in the old days”. On the subject of Middle East defense, there had been no differences of opinion between General Marshall and himself, although he clearly understood that foreign policy was decided in the State Department.
Prime Minister said that Israel has the capacity to defend itself and to take part in the defense of the Middle East; Israel has the manpower and the industrial capacity; the manpower is growing rapidly and is now twice what it had been on the establishment of the State. As a result of the steady inflow of immigrants there is now in Israel a larger proportion of people between the ages of fifteen and forty than in most countries; Israel has a small standing army but has taken measures to train large reserves. The principal feature of this training consists of two years of compulsory service for both men and women. This service includes nine months of agricultural training as well as instruction in Hebrew, history, etc. Such an extensive program of training [Page 668] is a great burden for a little country with a yearly immigration of 200,000 people.
Israel has followed, and will continue to follow, a policy of unlimited immigration. It is the ideal on which the State is based. The immigration program will have to be carried on as long as it is necessary to provide a haven for oppressed Jews, but such a policy constitutes a tremendous burden for Israel. Israel’s prime need, therefore, is to build up its industrial establishment and its defensive capacity, and to do this it needs US assistance; it cannot do it alone. From the point of view of manpower, it is true Israel is not the only country in the Near East; Turkey is also willing and able to contribute to the defense of the area. Israel, however, can be considered the second people of the region, after the Turks. The other countries are not of much use in any plans for the defense of the area.
He knew the US and the UK considered the defense of the Middle East vital and that we would want to defend the Middle East. The Prime Minister hoped for peace, but no one could tell when calamity might come. With regard to the specific steps which might be taken by Israel, he mentioned that his country could produce guns and shells but the necessary raw materials would have to come from outside. He realized that raw materials had to be controlled in the present state of world crisis, but Israel should at least have priority with the other allies of the US for raw materials, machinery, and engineers; Israel had a great deal to learn, and had an urgent need for instructors.
On the basis of Israel’s needs, his country had inaugurated a $1.5 billion program over the next three years to assist in the resettlement of immigrants and to enable Israel to play a defensive role in the area. Five hundred million dollars of the required sum would be raised in Israel; the other billion, it was hoped could come from the US, from the bond issue, gifts, and from other sources. It was in this connection that Israel had asked the US for grant aid.
The Prime Minister said he understood that an objection had been raised that a grant to Israel by the US would alienate the Arab states. He considered this an illogical position and said that the British had made the same mistake in the past. The Arab attitude toward the US was not determined by what the US did for the Jews. Persia was an example. Persia was relatively friendly toward Israel and yet he was convinced Persia would not fight for the West. The Arabs were very similar to the Persians; they had an historic inability to stand up in the face of situations like the one presently threatening world peace. He said that what the West did for Israel, therefore, would not change the basic attitude of the Arab states toward the West.
The US was in a position to help Israel greatly. For example, the Germans had taken away Jewish lives and Jewish property, and the [Page 669] Germans should pay a part of the burden of resettling the Jewish emigrants from Europe who had suffered from their excesses. Mr. Adenauer had acknowledged Germany’s guilt to certain Israel representatives, expressed the wish to make amends, and admitted the principle of the need for the payment of an indemnity. Adenauer said, however, that he could not pay such an indemnity against the wishes of the US. The US, therefore, could be of great assistance to Israel by permitting and encouraging Germany to pay its just debts.
The Prime Minister said that his talk with me constituted an outline of Israel’s present needs and the means whereby they could be filled.
I told the Prime Minister that I knew that General Marshall’s views were in accord with the Department’s.
We had given a great deal of thought to what could be done in the Middle East. The first essential, however, was to get peace in the area, and we hoped Israel would cooperate with the Armistice machinery in working out the present dispute between Syria and Israel. The matter could be settled through the UN, if the Israelis were helpful and cooperative.
I realized two things were needed to build up local production in Israel: machine tools and raw materials. Mr. Wilson had just returned from a trip to Europe and was fully aware of the crisis throughout the world resulting from shortages of these items. The present problem, however, is to establish an international system for the distribution of raw materials which would stimulate production. During the Second World War the US and the UK controlled all raw material sources and were able to establish the necessary priorities throughout the world; now the cooperation of at least seven countries was required to establish similar controls. There was also the question of supplies to be exchanged for raw materials. During the last war prices of raw materials were over controlled and export controls were in effect on manufactured goods from the US to other countries. A problem had then arisen in connection with our neighbors in Latin America. As a result of the tight controls during the war they were unable to obtain their requirements in manufactured goods during the war. When the US took off all export controls and also removed price controls, they were unable to purchase the needed goods with the funds which had accumulated from the sale of raw materials at controlled prices during the war period. International agreement on allocations was therefore urgently necessary at the present time.
I told the Prime Minister that I did not fully understand what was meant by Mr. Adenauer’s remarks. I pointed out that any German deficit would have to be made good by the US. We had had trouble with the Russians on this score. The Russians wanted a large indemnity [Page 670] from Germany, but all reparations from Western Germany ultimately came out of the US unless they took the form of a transfer of capital items which had now ceased. We were not in favor of reparations out of current production.
Ambassador Eban interposed the remark that Israel’s policy would involve unrequited exports from Germany. He claimed that Germany had a higher standard of living than Israel and could afford to follow such a program.
The Prime Minister said that Israel was lowering its standard of living in order to bring in people from all over the world; it was inconceivable to him, therefore, that the Germans should get away with maintaining a higher standard of living than existed in Israel.
The, Prime Minister said that Israel had a great interest in peace in the Near East. He could not say, however, when peace would come, because of the corruption of the Arab governments, competing political factions, etc. In the beginning, the Arabs had believed that they could defeat Israel on the field of battle; they were now aware that this was impossible, and maintained the Israel economy would collapse shortly resulting in Israel’s disappearance from the Near East. The Prime Minister claimed that there were many people in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon who were friends of Israel and wanted peace. In Syria, however, they had all been liquidated.
The Prime Minister suggested that the best means whereby the US could facilitate peace in the Near East was by extending economic aid to the Israelis. This would constitute proof to the Arabs that their hope for Israel’s economic collapse was untenable and would convince them that Israel could not be destroyed. The Arab states would then be prepared to make peace with Israel. The Prime Minister said that Egypt was the keystone for peace in the Near East and that a peace agreement with that country would go a long way to bring about peace agreements with the other neighboring Arab countries. He said there were no problems between Israel and Egypt, and only desert lay between the two countries.
The Prime Minister continued that Israel did not claim an inch of Syrian territory; They had no reason to attack Syria, but they had conclusive evidence that Syrian soldiers had entered the Demilitarized Zone and that the fighting was continuing in the area. He said there was no reason for aggression by Israel, and he could give me the fullest assurances that Israel would cooperate with the UN in bringing about peace in the area and keeping the Armistice Agreement.
The Prime Minister concluded by stating that the West might find that Israel’s cooperation would be the decisive factor in the successful defense of the Middle East.