403. Memorandum of a Conversation Between the Counselor of the Italian Embassy (De Rege) and the Director of the Office of Near Eastern Affairs (Wilkins), Department of State, Washington, June 20, 19561
SUBJECT
- French Intention to Increase French Arms Shipments to Israel
Mr. De Rege asked me if we had any opinion with respect to the French intention to increase French shipments of arms to Israel. He said the French Embassy had submitted a long list of items to NEACC. He added that de Laboulaye had informed him the French [Page 738] thought Israel very jittery at the present time and that it was essential that any discrepancy between Israel and the Arab states be rectified. Thereafter an arms embargo could be imposed. I said I had not been informed of the French intention, but would check into it.2
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 784A.56/6–2056. Confidential. Drafted on June 26 by Wilkins.↩
- Willie Morris, First
Secretary of the British Embassy, also told Wilkins on June 21 that
the French had apparently decided to increase their arms shipments
to Israel. (Memorandum of conversation by Wilkins; ibid., 784A.56/6–2156)
In the course of a conversation with Wilkins on June 21, François de Laboulaye, First Secretary of the French Embassy, confirmed that France had submitted to NEACC 11 documents describing items that France wished to ship to Israel. (Memorandum of conversation by Wilkins; ibid., 784A.56/6–2256)
On June 25, de Laboulaye informed Wilkins that the French Embassy had received additional instructions from Paris to inform NEACC of France’s desire to fulfill several additional Israeli requests for ground and air equipment. (Memorandum of conversation by Wilkins; ibid., 784A.56/6–2556)
↩