501.BB Palestine/12–1448
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. Stuart W. Rockwell of the Dwision of Near Eastern Affairs
| Participants: | Mr. Eliahu Epstein, Israeli Mission |
| Mr. Uriel Heyd, Israeli Mission | |
| Colonel Efraim Ben-Arzi, Israeli Mission | |
| NEA—Mr. Satterthwaite | |
| NE—Mr. Colquitt | |
| Mr. Rockwell |
Messrs. Epstein and Heyd came in to present to the appropriate officers of NEA Colonel Ben-Arzi, who has arrived in the United States to assume his duties as Military Attaché at the Israeli Mission.
[Here follow four paragraphs giving Mr. Epstein’s views on the question of Israeli membership in the United Nations, the composition of the Conciliation Commission and related matters.]
Mr. Satterthwaite then declared that he had a matter to discuss with Messrs. Epstein and Heyd. He said that the Department had received reports that certain Israeli patrols had penetrated the Transjordan frontier. He said that he realized how indefinite were the [Page 1669] territorial boundaries in that part of the world and how difficult it was to restrain the enthusiasm of young soldiers on patrol, but that such incidents could have serious consequences in view of the British determination to live up to the terms of the Anglo-Trans Jordan treaty. He wished to bring this matter to the attention of Messrs. Epstein and Heyd in the most friendly fashion, since it had caused the Department some concern. Mr. Epstein and Colonel Ben-Arzi referred to the difficulty of knowing exactly where the border lay and said that they had had no confirmation of the reports, which they believed to have been spread by British sources. They added, however, that if any such incursion into Transjordan had taken place, it was certainly unintentional.
Mr. Epstein then went on to say that the Israelis were going to reply to the renewed British references to the arms received by Israel from Czechoslovakia in violation of the terms of the truce, and that the Provisional Government of Israel, according to a message from Tel Aviv, had proof that the British themselves had been continuing to supply arms to the Arabs. While admitting that the Israelis had received arms from Czechoslovakia, Mr. Epstein felt that the British were in a poor moral position to accuse the Israelis of violating the truce, since, he said, they themselves were sending arms to the Arabs.