37. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to Secretary of State Rogers and Secretary of Defense Richardson1
During his meeting with Prime Minister Meir on March 1, 1973, the President made the following decisions:
—The United States will assist Israel in the production of at least 100 Super Mirage aircraft. The technical arrangements are to be worked out immediately.
—There will be a continuation of the supply pipeline for A–4 and F–4 aircraft during the years FY 1974 and FY 1975. The Israeli requested [Page 117] figures for numbers of aircraft to be supplied will be considered sympathetically, but the exact number will be determined through negotiation by the experts of the two countries.
For your guidance, the President is thinking in terms of a higher figure than the joint State–Defense recommendation, but did not wish to commit himself to any specific number.2
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 922, VIP Visits, Israel (Golda Meir’s Visit), 1 Mar. 1973. Top Secret; Sensitive.↩
- In addition, on March 2, Kissinger approved a recommendation in a memorandum from Saunders and Kennedy to sustain Nixon’s December 1972 decision to provide Israel with $25 million in Supporting Assistance in FY 1974. The memorandum noted that this compared with $50 million in FY 1973, but explained that this reduction had been made because of Israel’s good foreign exchange position and the President’s desire to maintain a tight budgetary ceiling. A handwritten notation on the memorandum indicates that OMB was notified on March 6. (Ibid., Box 610, Country Files, Middle East, Israel, Vol. 12 (Mar. 73–Oct. 73))↩