Office of the Historian

684A.85/6–1153

No. 624
Memorandum by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs (Jernegan) to the Secretary of State’s Assistant (O’Connor)1

confidential
[Washington,] June 11, 1953.

Subject:

  • Publicity Regarding Messages to the Prime Ministers of Jordan and Israel

Following our telephone conversation, I have consulted the Office of Near Eastern Affairs about the desirability of issuing some form of press statement to point up the signing of the “Local Commanders Agreement” between Jordan and Israel. NE recommends, and I concur, that we do not attempt to publicize this development. To do so would run the risk of bringing adverse pressure from the other Arab States, and from the people of Jordan itself, on the Jordan Government.

While the Arab States are from time to time willing to do reasonable things in their relations with Israel, they ordinarily do them only when acting alone and quietly. Experience shows that collectively the Arab States are much more intransigent than singly. In public and among themselves each Government feels obliged to be more uncompromising than the next in its attitude toward Israel.

The publicity attendant on a special message from the Secretary of State, if it were released, would probably have an additional disadvantage of implying that the agreement was negotiated under [Page 1240] American pressure. I am afraid this would be so no matter how the statement or message were worded.

Even if publicity did not affect Jordanian implementation of this agreement, it might work against the execution of the next step for which we hope—the initiation of high level talks between Jordan and Israel on the border situation.

It is our present belief that as a general rule maneuvers in the ticklish Arab-Israel situation should be carried on as unobtrusively as possible.

I have consulted Mr. Byroade, who concurs in the foregoing.2

  1. Sent through the Executive Secretariat. Attached to the source text was a draft statement for the press expressing gratification at the reinstitution on June 8 of a Local Commanders’ Agreement between Jordan and Israel under the auspices of the Jordan-Israel Mixed Armistice Commission. Marginal notations by O’Connor indicate that both the memorandum and the attachment were seen by Secretary Dulles.↩
  2. On June 11, Dulles sent to the Prime Ministers of Jordan and Israel messages of congratulation on the reinstitution of the Local Commanders’ Agreement. (Telegrams 977 to Amman and 1099 to Tel Aviv, June 11, 684A.85/6–1153; also telegrams 1899 from Tel Aviv and 1102 to Tel Aviv, June 12, 684A.85/6–1253)↩