DEAR MR. PRESIDENT:
I thank you for your letter dated January 9th introducing
Mr. Robert Anderson, which through inadvertence in Cairo reached me only a few
days ago.
I feel that you could not have chosen a more fitting
emissary for the noble mission you have initiated with a view to bringing about
a lasting peace in the Middle East.
Mr. Anderson has doubtless reported to you on the
conversations he conducted in Jerusalem and Cairo and I therefore will not trouble
you with a restatement of our position in detail. We have declared our full and
unqualified readiness to enter forthwith into contact with the head of the
Egyptian Government or with such responsible representatives as he may
designate, in order to explore possibilities of a settlement or of progress by
stages towards an ultimate peace. We are prepared to engage in such
negotiations without any prior conditions as to their scope or the terms on
which a settlement might be sought.
Peace holds a paramount place in the national and
spiritual aims of our people. It is a supreme imperative of the People of the
Bible. It is a national interest of the highest order for a young state which
must apply its main resources to the absorption of immigration and the
rebuilding of a desolate land. As citizens of the free world, dedicated to
democratic values and the freedom of man, we fully realise the significance of
peace in this area for the peace of mankind as a whole.
Frankness impels me to say that the position taken thus
far by the Prime Minister of Egypt, as conveyed to us by Mr. Anderson, has
raised in my mind the following fateful questions:
(a) Does Col. Nasser sincerely desire peace or is he
merely seeking to gain time until Soviet arms have been properly absorbed into
the Egyptian Army and he will be militarily capable of striking down Israel? My
doubts are unhappily strengthened by the fact that Col. Nasser has not
undertaken to observe the Armistice Agreement between Israel and Egypt or even
to give a cease-fire order to his troops on the frontier—two requests made to
him by General Burns and Mr. Hammarskjold. Egyptian soldiers continue to shoot
daily at Israel settlements and at Israel soldiers.
(b) Even if Col. Nasser’s intentions vis-à-vis Israel are
peaceful, and although he himself is clearly not a communist, has he not
succumbed to Soviet influence and has Egypt not become a base for Soviet
penetration to the African continent to such a degree that he no longer enjoys
freedom of action in his foreign policy?
(c) Assuming that he does desire peace with Israel and is
not a captive of Soviet policy, will he be able to withstand negative pressures
from his own colleagues in the junta?
Despite these doubts we shall continue to extend to Mr.
Anderson our fullest co-operation for the success of his mission.
Yet, Mr. President, I would not be true to my conscience
and to my people were I not to use this opportunity to bring to your attention
the grave peril in which Israel finds itself in face of the Soviet arms
acquired by Egypt. In all Arab states—particularly Egypt, Saudi Arabia and
Syria—radio, press and official statements forecast Israel’s early destruction;
the incessant flow of Soviet arms to Cairo lends these forecasts a grim and
menacing significance. In the present circumstances our villages and towns are
defenceless against air attack. The denial of defensive arms to Israel
jeopardizes its very survival. In the absence of a positive response from the
U.S. we find it well-nigh impossible to get arms from any other country in the
free world.
If attacked we shall fight desperately and with our backs
to the wall, for Israel today is the last refuge of our people even as at the
dawn of history it was our first homeland. I feel however bound to say to you
in ail earnestness that the U.S. is assuming a very grave moral responsibility.
Every day that passes without our receiving from your country or her allies
planes and tanks, not inferior in quality to those supplied to Egypt from
Soviet sources—brings the danger
ever closer and deepens the feeling that we are being abandoned by our closest
friends. Your declaration from Denver on November 9th regarding the legitimacy
of defensive arms stirred in us the hope that the U.S. would not
fail us.
I
repeat that my government and people will extend every possible co-operation to
your invaluable initiative to bring about peace between Israel and Egypt.
Should you succeed in your efforts, not only our people but the entire free
peace-loving world will salute you. Yet even the great might of the U.S. cannot
compel Col. Nasser to make peace. It is however within your power, perhaps
within your power alone, to prevent a war in the Middle East by affording us
adequate defensive means in proper time. It is highly probable that this will
also contribute towards peace; no Arab country is ever likely to make peace
with a defenceless Israel.
I
hope that you will excuse me for having set down frankly what is in our hearts
here.
My
cabinet colleagues and the entire people of Israel join me in sending you
heartfelt wishes for health and strength for many years to come.
Yours
sincerely,
SOURCE: FRUS 1955-1957 XV, doc.103. See also
Ben-Gurion, My Talks with Arab Leaders,
309-11.
