307. Memorandum From the Executive Secretary of the Department of State (Read) to the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow)1
Washington, December 30, 1967.
SUBJECT
- Letter to the President from King Faisal2
King Faisal’s reply to the President’s message of December 73 is enclosed. The Department does not recommend that a reply be sent at this time. While it is apparent that Faisal’s views remain solidly aligned with the Arab camp, nevertheless it is worth noting the King’s willingness not to interfere in any decisions in the Arab-Israel context taken by any of the Arab states directly concerned. He wished success to the Jarring mission.
Benjamin H. Read
4
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Special Head of State Correspondence File, Saudi Arabia—Presidential Correspondence. Secret; Exclusive Distribution.↩
- Attached to the memorandum is Faisal’s December 26 letter in which the King stated that he was confident that the United States would not leave the aggressor to reap the fruits of his aggression and that the President would not approve an aggressor’s use of his aggression as an illegitimate tool to accomplish ends inconsistent with justice. Faisal said that Saudi Arabia continued to attach great importance to three basic issues which were the key to a solution: 1) the question of Jerusalem; 2) withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Arab territories occupied in June 1967; and 3) providing a just solution to the problem of the refugees. The King expressed confidence that the President would devote close attention to this problem, as the United States was known throughout the free world for its support of right and justice.↩
- Document 306.↩
- Signed for Read in an unidentified hand.↩