Office of the Historian

498. Memorandum From the Officer in Charge of Egypt-Sudan Affairs (Geren) to the Deputy Director of the Office of Near Eastern Affairs (Burdett)1

Washington, July 25, 1956.

SUBJECT

  • British Positions on French Requests for Arms to Israel

Willie Morris said that the Foreign Office has instructed the British to register no objection to the miscellaneous items included in the French request to ship arms to Israel. On what they consider the major items, the British position will be:

1.
Cut the AMX tanks, of which 60 were notified, to 25 or 30 and eliminate the 40 Shermans altogether.
2.
Reduce the 75mm guns, of which 175 were notified, to 25 in view of the fact 50 have been shipped in recent months (25 of them apparently without notification to NEACC).
3.
Eliminate the parachutes, of which 200 were requested, since they are for paratroopers and therefore offensive.
4.
Reduce the anti-tank mines, of which 100,000 were requested, to 10,000.

The British are notifying the French of these positions tomorrow. If the French could get U.S. and Italian approval to the same quantities which the British have indicated, then the French could notify Paris of a NEACC action. Such an action can theoretically be taken outside a meeting once items are on the agenda.

The French are taking the position that they must know our decision at once or must call for an Ambassadorial Committee meeting to satisfy the French Government. We will probably be able to hold off for a week or more. We should formulate our position on items, quantities, and phasing of deliveries.

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 784A.56/7–2556. Secret.↩