283. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson1
SUBJECT
- King Faisal’s Reply to Your Letter2
Faisal reiterates his desire to continue your close personal relationship and urges us to be even-handed in picking up the pieces of the Mid-East war. He has no doubt that the Israelis committed aggression and asks you to help make sure that they don’t gain territorially.
I pass this on only because it is typical of the strong pressures we are getting from our Arab friends to say that our support for the territorial integrity of all the states in the area means pulling the Israelis back behind the 1949 Armistice lines and not forcing a peace settlement. Mac Bundy has seen, and we will have recommendations for you soon.
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Middle East Crisis, Vol. V. Secret. A handwritten “L” on the memorandum indicates the President saw it.↩
- For text of the President’s June 8 letter to King Faisal, see Foreign Relations, 1964–1968, vol. XXI, Document 290. The King’s reply was transmitted in telegram 5272 from Jidda, June 12, a copy of which is attached to the source text.↩