357.AC/8–1051
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Acting Officer in Charge of Lebanon–Syria–Iraq Affairs (Barrow)
Subject: 1. Egypt Suez Canal Restrictions.
2. Grant Aid to Israel.
| Participants: | Faiz El-Khouri, Minister of Syria |
| G. Lewis Jones—NE | |
| John R. Barrow—NE |
Discussion:
The Minister came in on instructions from his Government to state that “the Syrian Government considers the attitude taken by the United States in being a co-sponsor of this (the Suez) resolution an attitude which means support and backing of the Jews against the Arabs and the Arabs’ interests”. The Minister went on to say that the Syrian Government considers any help, moral or material, to the Jews harms the Arabs.
Mr. Jones replied that the United States Government based its action primarily on its policy of support for the armistice systems of the Near East. It was the same, in fact, as our policy on the Huleh question. We were neither for or against the Arabs or the Jews, but We were for the armistice agreements and against any actions which we believed contravened those agreements, either in letter or in spirit. The Egypt Suez Canal restrictions, we thought, definitely violated the spirit of the Egypt–Israel armistice.
The Syrian Minister asked if the West’s need for oil from the Haifa refinery was not a factor in our action. Mr. Jones replied that undoubtedly this was an element in our thinking, but his previous statement, in which the governing word was “primarily”, was still valid. Our foremost concern was the armistice agreements which we regard as essential to the peace and stability of the Near East.
The Syrian Minister remarked that his Government did not consider Egypt’s actions a violation of the Egypt–Israel armistice agreement, and alluded to General Riley’s findings on that point which he regarded as very equivocal.
2. Grant Aid to Israel
The Syrian Minister said that he had heard that certain members of Congress were advocating an amendment to Title II of the administration’s Mutual Security Program to provide additional grant aid to Israel. Mr. Jones said he had no information about it and recommended that the Minister “wait and see”.
The Syrian Minister repeated the view that any aid to Israel would be considered by the Arabs as an unfriendly act. He paraphrased an [Page 829] Arab proverb which said, “It is better to prevent harm to myself, than to advance my interests.” In other words, he said the Arabs would rather receive no aid, if Israel would also receive no aid. Mr. Barrow said that the Syrian Minister’s remarks seemed to be in direct conflict with the United States’ attitude of “positive” rather than “negative” impartiality toward the Arab States and Israel.
Mr. Jones then recalled the story of the man who was visited by an angel who had told him he could have anything he asked on the understanding that his neighbor would receive twice as much. The man had pondered this offer for a long time and finally said to the angel, “Please put out one of my eyes.”
The Syrian Minister’s reply was that Israel never was and never would be a neighbor of the Arabs.