Thursday, August 4, 2016

93 - D. Ben-Gurion to M. Sharett, February 17, 1956

                                                                        Hakirya, 17 February 1956
To the Foreign Minister
From the Prime Minister                         

            In response to your letter of 15.2.56 I must first of all make my clarify my remarks to Bigart.
            I was asked whether we were about to renew work on March 1st. I answered: March 1st – not necessarily. As we have learned, Johnson is soon coming over here in order to conclude the negotiations. If he succeeds in that soon, we would be happy; for we prefer to work under an agreement rather than under a conflict. If he does not succeed, we would carry out the work alone.
            I have no idea whether Bigart reported my remarks as they were uttered. I will wait for the New York Times and see.
            As to the matter itself, I had no idea of the line adopted by the Foreign Ministry, "including its embassies in Washington and Paris." Had I known it, I would not have said to Bigart what I said.
            In what I wrote above there is not the slightest grievance towards the Foreign Ministry for not informing me of its line, only a statement of the fact that I was not aware of the existence of such a line. I also had no idea of the French Ambassador's visit.
            While I am not in favor of a policy of making early announcements when they are not backed by a resolute decision to carry them out, this would  not have prevented me from acting according to the line you have adopted towards the outer world.
            As to coordination: I am all for it and will listen readily to any suggestion you might have which would assure it as much as possible by both sides.
                                                                        With friendly greetings,
                                                                        D. Ben Gurion


SOURCE: ISA FM 130.02/2446/11.