Office of the Historian

55. Memorandum of a Conversation, White House, Washington, January 30, 1956, 4 p.m.1

ETW MC–2
Washington, January 30, 1956, 4 p.m.

PARTICIPANTS

  • US
    • President Eisenhower
    • Secretary Dulles
    • Under Secretary Hoover
    • Ambassador Aldrich
    • Mr. Merchant
    • Mr. Allen
    • Mr. MacArthur
    • Mr. Bowie
    • Mr. Hagerty
    • Mr. Rountree
    • Mr. Cottman
  • UK
    • Prime Minister Eden
    • Foreign Secretary Lloyd
    • Ambassador Makins
    • Sir Harold Caccia
    • Sir Leslie Rowan
    • Mr. Evelyn Shuckburgh
    • Mr. Ian Samuel
    • Mr. Willie Morris

Arab-Israel Dispute

The Secretary informed the President that in the preceding discussions of the Arab-Israeli situation,2 the elements of the problem had been reviewed and it had been agreed in principle we should make clearly evident our resolution to react to an outbreak of hostilities in order to forestall such an outbreak. It was thought we should consider a possible UN resolution and other steps in the UN to establish a basis for action if it should be required. It also had been decided to request the President to instruct U.S. military authorities, in consultation with the British, to see what could be done in the way of utilizing military forces in the area. There had been a preliminary exploration of various suggestions in this regard, but the possibilities should be studied with great care.

The President instructed an Assistant to telephone Admiral Radford and ask that military representatives get in touch with General Whiteley (Chairman, British Joint Services Mission) to arrange an early meeting. He said he should know what he could do without further Congressional authority, such as moving the Sixth Fleet accompanied by an amphibious expedition, etc.3

[Page 109]

[Here follows discussion of unrelated matters.]

  1. Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 62 D 181, CF 648. Secret. Drafted on February 7. No other drafting information is given on the source text. There is a note on the source text identical to the one on ETW MC–1, supra; see footnote 1 thereto.↩
  2. See supra.↩
  3. In response to these instructions, Admiral Radford on January 31 transmitted a memorandum to the President in which he informed Eisenhower that he and Lieutenant General Whiteley had “conferred and concluded that we would prepare separate memoranda in connection with a joint U.S.–U.K. show of force in critical Middle East areas.” (JCS Records, CJCS 091 Palestine (31 Jan 56)) The signed original of Whiteley’s memorandum detailing British forces in the area, dated January 31, is in Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, International File.↩