116. Telegram From the Embassy in Israel to the Department of State and the White House1
15996. Subject: Begin’s Reply to President’s Letter on Settlements.
1. Following is text of copy of letter from Prime Minister Begin to President Carter dated October 29. Text received by Embassy at 1230 local time October 30.
2. Begin quote: Dear Mr. President, I acknowledge the receipt of your message2 dated October 26th, 1978, which I read with deep regret. At Camp David, I informed you, Mr. President, that whilst undertaking not to establish new settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza during the next three months—the agreed period for our negotiations with Egypt—we shall add several hundred families to the existing settlements. In fulfillment of this, the Cabinet decided unanimously that the [Page 399] addition of those several hundred families should be carried out in the near future; in other words, we are fully complying with what I told you and wrote to you at Camp David.
May I, Mr. President, also draw your attention to the following exchange3 that took place between Assistant Secretary Saunders, Ambassador Lewis and the Director-General of our Foreign Ministry, Mr. Y. Ciechanover. In your replies to King Hussein, the following sentence, inter alia, appears: “whatever number (of the settlements) that might remain beyond the transitional period, and their status, would presumably be agreed in the negotiations concerning the final status of the West Bank and Gaza envisaged under paragraph A.1.(c).”
I drew the attention of Mr. Saunders to the gravity of such a statement, which may be clearly interpreted as a possibility of removing, at least, some of these settlements. Mr. Saunders promised to give specific replies to my remarks to Mr. Ciechanover. Two days later the following conversation4 took place:
“Saunders: As to question 9, I understand the Prime Minister’s position. The question of settlements must, however, be settled in discussion.
Ciechanover: According to your phrase, there is a presumption that some settlements might be removed: is this the U.S. position? There has never been a discussion of such a possibility.
Saunders: That possibility is conceivable.
Lewis: Everything is left open on this issue. To be very legalistic: all the settlements might be removed or some of them or none.”
Mr. President, I will refrain from characterizing the replies of Mr. Saunders and Mr. Lewis; but it is my duty, on behalf of the Government of Israel, to state that our people will never accept the possibility called by Mr. Saunders “conceivable” or the two first alternatives in the reply of your Ambassador.
I hope, Mr. President, that you will understand the position of Israel.
Yours sincerely,
Menachem Begin
End quote.
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Cables File, Middle East, Box 46, 10/21–31/78. Secret; Sensitive; Immediate; Nodis. Printed from a copy that indicates the original was received in the White House Situation Room.↩
- See Document 108.↩
- See Document 97.↩
- The Embassy transmitted the U.S. record of this October 22 conversation in telegram 15449 from Tel Aviv, October 24. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P840153–2574)↩