231. Memorandum of a Telephone Conversation Between the President’s Special Assistant (Richards) in Athens and the Acting Secretary of State in Washington, May 1, 1957, 10:55 a.m.1
I telephoned Ambassador Richards in Athens to tell him I had discussed the matter of his going to Israel with the President2 again and that the President still felt that Ambassador Richards should go. The President felt that since a formal invitation had been extended by Israel and arrangement made for the visit, and since he would be making only a one-day courtesy call, it would be more helpful than harmful for him to go. It was agreed that Ambassador Richards would get in immediate contact with Tel Aviv and make the necessary arrangements for the visit. It was also agreed that appropriate notification would be sent by the Department to the Arab countries and that, in any event, no public notice of the visit would go out for the next twenty-four hours.
At the end of our conversation, I told Ambassador Richards how much we all appreciated the superb job he has been doing under extremely difficult conditions.