Office of the Historian
  1. Home
  2. Historical Documents
  3. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Arab-Israeli Dispute, January 1–July 26, 1956, Volume XV
  4. Document 16

16. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Israel 1

Washington , January 11, 1956—8:03 p.m.

481. Eyes only for Ambassador. Re Embtel 687.2 Both Sharett and Eban had previously indicated to me Israel’s lack of confidence in Nasser and the desire of IG to postpone negotiations for settlement. We have however within past two days been given firm assurance of Ben Gurion’s willingness to talk with intermediary. We are under no illusions concerning difficulty of inducing IG to commence process of arriving at compromises essential for a settlement but believe we should take fullest advantage of willingness of leaders of both governments to talk with intermediary. Raphael has in past made exaggerated statements of IG position.

Dulles
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 674.84A/1–1156. Top Secret; Alpha. Drafted by Russell, cleared with Hoover, and approved and signed by Dulles.↩
  2. Document 11.↩