168. Memorandum of a Conversation Between the President and Members of the Conference of Major National Jewish Organizations, White House, Washington, September 20, 1960, 9:15 a.m.1
[Here follows a list of participants.]
The President opened the discussion by saying that he was presently working on his speech that he would deliver to the United Nations on Thursday morning,2 and that the major problem was determining the tone—how to be firm yet at the same time conciliatory. He said it would be very easy, of course, to just assail the “so and so’s”, but that that would not follow his major purpose which was to continue the work for peace in the world.
Mr. Katz opened the discussions for the Jewish repesentatives by extending to the President, on behalf of all, the best wishes of the Jewish people of the country to the President for the New Year. He said that the group deeply appreciated the opportunity to discuss with the President the upcoming session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. He then outlined the following points that they would like to discuss:
- 1.
- The concern in the Jewish Community in the United States that Nasser is visiting the United States at this time. He said that they appeared today in a constructive role and in support of the President’s peaceful objective. He said that his organizations were doing everything they could to persuade more zealous members of their groups against anti-Nasser demonstrations in the City of New York, and that they were telling their people that the only intelligent way to proceed was through peaceful means by continuing peaceful negotiations.
- 2.
- The Jewish Community feels that Nasser’s conduct has been impossible to date and has great concern over his continual blocking of Jewish shipping through the Suez Canal.
- 3.
- The Jewish Community realizes that traditionally the President has played a constructive and continuing role for peace in the world.
- 4.
- The Jewish Community would like to suggest to the President that in any personal contact he might have with Nasser, the President would urge the importance to Nasser of the reduction of tensions in the Mid East area.
- 5.
- The Jewish Community is concerned about a seat on the Security Council for the UAR.
The President responded that from time to time Nasser had expressed a hope that he could visit the United States, and particularly Washington. The President has never encouraged this, but he added that he did not think that Nasser seemed to be showing a more mature outlook on the international situation, and the situation in his area, and also seemed to be showing an indication that he did not think it was profitable for himself and his country to continue to play closely with the Soviets. The President said that if Nasser suggests that he would like to see him, the President thought it would be useful to see Nasser. One of the reasons it would be useful would be that the President would take the occasion to point out many things that the people of the United States did not like. These, according to the President, included the following:
- (a)
- Nasser’s continued use of Soviet aid, particularly on the military side.
- (b)
- His constant attack on Israel in speeches in the Arab world. These speeches are certainly inflammatory and are made largely to sway crowd reaction.
The President said that in talking with Ben-Gurion they both agreed that in the long run Israel’s future lies in becoming a completely industrial nation which would produce the goods that the Mid East actually needs. He and Ben-Gurion had agreed at the time of the meeting that ways must be found to expand Jewish commerce in the area and defeat the Arab antagonism toward the Jews. It was also agreed by both, the President said, that Arab progress in the area can really be helped if some rapprochement can be found between the Jews and Arabs. The President said that if he did see Nasser, he was sure he would not get any definite promises at this time but that he would want to give him some “plain language” talk. The President said that the questions he would like to put to Nasser were:
Does Nasser want to be a big man only in the Arab world and keep attacking the Jews to maintain his position, or does he actually want to work to advance the welfare of his people to ease tensions in the area and to bring economic development and improvements to the whole area?
The President said he understood that Nasser talks English well and that, therefore, if he saw him, he would have a chance to find out what Nasser has on his mind.
The President warned that the outbreak of war anyplace in the world, particularly in the Mid East, would be most disastrous to the world and would ultimately, in his opinion, lead to world conflict. He said there is no doubt that the Israeli Army could “take care” of the Arab Armed Forces and that consequently should warfare break out, the Arabs would soon yell for help and would probably receive Soviet [Page 371] assistance. If this happens, the United States and the free world would be brought into the conflict and the seeds of worldwide conflict would be immediately planted.
The President said that he did not intend to have Nasser down to Washington to the White House but that if he did see him, he might do so in New York on the 26th. He said he would not see Nasser on the 22nd—that he was well aware that the observance of the Jewish New Year would be on, and that this would be a wrong time to see Nasser.
As far as Khrushchev’s visit to the United Nations is concerned, the President said that he believes that the Russian, merely wanted to stage a propaganda show and that, actually, he was puzzled as to his basic intent. He also added that the United States, which has the obligation for the security of the visitors, must make sure that delegations can go back and forth to the United Nations with security. He said that we must not demean ourselves as a nation and allow hot heads to put on demonstrations in the City of New York during the General Session.
The President also told the group that there was a good possibility that Prime Minister Macmillan would appear at the General Assembly during the end of the meeting and that he hoped also that Menzies of Australia could also be present.
Rabbi Miller said that the group applauded the President for what he was trying to do. He raised the question of the UAR seat on the Security Council, and I outlined the fact that this was an Afro-Asian bloc seat, that there was no contest for this seat, and that as early as last year when Tunisia was seated, the Afro-Asian bloc had said it was their intention to have the UAR as the next member from the bloc to the Security Council.
Rabbi Miller and Rabbi Prinz expressed the hope that there would be opposition to the UAR for this seat, and Rabbi Miller added that as a suggestion, the President, if he so desired, could point out to Nasser that Nasser always has insisted that a state of belligerency has always existed between the UAR and Israel and that it would be inconsistent to appoint to the Security Council (whose primary purpose is to maintain peace) a nation that has a state of belligerency against another.
The President told the group that he thought this was a good point, and that he did see an inconsistency in such a situation. He said that he intended to talk to Mr. Herter in New York later in the day on the points made by the group and that the “stage of belligerency” suggestion would be one of them.
The meeting concluded with all members of the group thanking the President again for his thoughtfulness in inviting them down to his office and talking with them in confidence.
[Page 372]At the conclusion of the meeting the President suggested that the group might say that they had expressed their deep concern to the President and their great interest in the promotion of peace in the world. He said that they could also say that they had suggested there should be improvements between Israel and the Arab world.
Photographs were then taken, and the meeting concluded. It lasted for an hour.
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, DDE Diaries. No classification marking. Drafted by James C. Hagerty. In addition to the President and Hagerty, Label Katz and Maurice Bisgyer, President and Executive Secretary, respectively, of B’nai B’rith; Rabbi Irving Miller, President of the American Zionist Council; Rabbi Joachim Prinz, President of the American-Jewish Congress; and Moses Feuerstein, President of the Union of Orthodox Congregations of America, attended the meeting.↩
- For text of the President’s September 22 speech, see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1960, pp. 60–70.↩