162. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation1
PARTICIPANTS
- President Carter
- Prime Minister Begin
The conversation opened with Begin expressing his gratitude for the President’s statement at his morning press conference.2 He indicated he had listened to it and was most gratified and encouraged by it. He then indicated that one of his staff will be meeting shortly with a member of President Sadat’s staff to develop the Cairo meeting.
He then went on to repeat again his request that the President visit both Israel and Egypt during his trip.3 He assured the President that his visit “to my country will be an unforgettable event.”
The President responded that “I will consider it personally.” He then went on to inquire about “prospects for Cairo.” Begin responded that he has high hopes. “We will make progress with all the meetings that are going on. There will be parallel meetings and we will reach an agreement. I will keep you fully informed.”
President Carter stated to Begin “don’t hesitate to send me messages and to keep me fully informed.”
There was then a brief exchange about Begin’s forthcoming visit to London and then Prime Minister Begin concluded by asking when can the President let him know about “your decision about the visit to Israel?” The President responded that he will let him know in a week or two and the conversation ended with an exchange of pleasantries.
- Source: Carter Library, President’s Plains File. Secret.↩
- At his November 30 morning press conference, Carter stated that the development of direct contacts between Israel and Egypt represented a “historic breakthrough.” (Public Papers: Carter, 1977, Book II, pp. 2054–2057)↩
- A reference to Carter’s upcoming nine-day tour of six nations, which began on December 29 in Poland and included a stop in Egypt on January 4, 1978. He did not visit Israel until March 1978.↩