Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XIX, Arab-Israeli Crisis and War, 1967

388. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson¹

Washington, July 24, 1967.

SUBJECT

• Your Talk with Ambassador Barbour at 12:30 p.m. today²

We thought you ought to see Wally Barbour in order to get first hand his picture of how much negotiating room the Israelis may have. He came back feeling that they are prepared to make reasonable arrangements on the West Bank—in the context of an overall settlement—but show very little give on Jerusalem.

It is important for him to take away (a) your feeling that the Israelis will have to show some imagination and give on Jerusalem and (b) a sense of just how deeply you see us getting involved in the Jordan-Israel talks. You may want to begin by asking him how he sees these negotiations working out.

As you know, Wally did an outstanding job during the June crisis, so you may want to give him a pat on the back.

W.W. Rostow³

1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Middle East Crisis, Vol. VIII. Secret.
2. No record of the conversation has been found.
3. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.