Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Arab-Israeli Dispute, January 1–July 26, 1956, Volume XV

258. Memorandum of a Conversation Between the Minister of the British Embassy (Coulson) and the Counselor of the Department of State (MacArthur), Department of State, Washington, April 9, 1956¹

Washington, April 9, 1956

SUBJECT

• President’s Statement on Middle East

Mr. Coulson called on me at my request at 3:30 this afternoon. I said that I had asked him to call to let him and his Government know, on a most confidential basis, that the President planned to issue a statement about the Middle East at 5:00 p.m. this afternoon from Augusta, Georgia.² I said that intelligence reports over the weekend were extremely disquieting as to the activities of the organized Arab bands which had been infiltrated into Israel and the possible Israeli reaction if the Arabs did not cease their harassing tactics in Israel by tomorrow. In this connection, I made reference to Ben Gurion’s statement as reported in the press.³ We also had unconfirmed reports that the Egyptians were deploying their forces into battle position since they appeared to expect a strong Israeli reaction to the attacks by the Arab infiltrators. With this in mind, and as a deterrent to the breaking out of more wide-spread hostilities, the President was issuing a statement, a copy of which I gave to Mr. Coulson. I explained that the Secretary had seen the President this morning before his departure from Washington to discuss this general situation⁴ and that the President had sent word up just a few minutes before that he planned to issue the statement. I concluded by saying that we wished the British to know of the statement before it was issued and the circumstances which led to its issue.

Mr. Coulson read the statement and said he thought it was excellent and would be welcomed by the British Government. He said that pursuant to my request he would handle it in such a way that it would not be leaked and that there would not be any public information that we had consulted with the British before issuance, since he agreed this might raise problems with the French and others as to why we had consulted only with the British.⁵

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1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.80/4–956. Secret. Drafted by MacArthur.
2. In his statement issued from Augusta, Georgia, the President announced that prior to his departure from the White House, he had met with Secretary Dulles to discuss the repeated incidents of hostility in the Middle East. He and the Secretary supported the Secretary-General’s mission to the area, and the United States would observe its commitments to oppose aggression and would support and assist any nation subjected to aggression. For text of the statement, see Department of State Bulletin, April 23, 1956, p. 668.
3. An article entitled “Israel Promises Delay of 2 Days in Any Reprisals” in the New York Times, April 9, 1956, indicated that Ben Gurion had promised General Burns on April 8 that Israel would not retaliate against Egypt within the next 48 hours to allow time for Burns to obtain assurances from Egypt that these Fedayeen attacks would cease.
4. No account of this conversation has been found in Department of State files. According to Dulles’ Appointment Book, however, the meeting with the President began at 10:45 a.m. (Princeton University Library, Dulles Papers)
5. Later that evening, the Department transmitted the text of the President’s statement niact to the Embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv. (Telegrams 2455 to Cairo and 754 to Tel Aviv; Department of State, Central Files, 684A.86/4–956)