546. Informal Summary of a Meeting Held in Acting Secretary Hoover’s Office, Department of State, Washington, November 7, 1956, 3:45 p.m.1
PARTICIPANTS
- The Acting Secretary
- Mr. Murphy
- Mr. Prochnow
- Mr. Phleger
- Mr. Rountree
- Mr. Greene
The Acting Secretary reiterated that the President and the Secretary wanted to be as firm as necessary with the Israeli in getting them to accept the cease-fire, including withdrawal from the Egyptian territory. The Acting Secretary thought our action in this respect could also gain us credit and influence with the Arabs. A letter from the President to Prime Minister Ben-Gurion was drafted, and additional talking points for use in delivering the letter to Ben-Gurion and a copy of the President’s letter to be given to the Israeli Ambassador here were prepared. A statement for Mr. Hagerty’s office was drafted and telephoned to the White House.
The consensus was that further action, such as withdrawing the administrative determination that grants tax exemption to contributions by American citizens to Israel, should, for the moment, await further progress on implementing UN resolutions, particularly the arrival of a UN force and the withdrawal of the British and French. It was felt that it would be more effective to urge the Israelis to get out of Egypt after the British and French had begun to withdraw.
It was also decided that Ambassador Hare should be instructed to urge Nasser in the strongest terms to accept Hammarskjold’s proposal on the entry of the UN force.