Office of the Historian

52. Memorandum of a Telephone Conversation Between the President in Augusta, Georgia, and the Secretary of State in Washington, February 2, 1957, 4:40 p.m.1

Washington, February 2, 1957, 4:40 p.m.

TELEPHONE CALL TO THE PRESIDENT AT AUGUSTA

The Sec said he thought it would be useful if we had the Pres. approval to send a telegram to Ben Gurion about withdrawal in case the resolutions passed at the UN. It was not certain at the moment. The Arabs were uneasy and may ask for adjournment. The Sec said he had just finished talking to Lodge. The Israelis have been very stubborn re not withdrawing without firm agreements about Gaza and the port of Aqaba. This goes as far as possible and perhaps further. The Sec said Rountree had drafted and he had approved the suggested [Page 80] letter from the Pres. to Ben Gurion, which he read to the Pres.2 The Pres. apparently had reservations on the sentence concerning “could not place impediments … ”3 on the last page of the cable. The Sec said there would be a resolution calling for sanctions. We will be honor bound to do something. The Sec said we had never had quite the same occasion. It is a very critical situation. The Sec said it is a question of whether either the Arabs or Israel would go along with us. Egypt is now having second thoughts. The Sec said he would not send the message unless we knew the resolution will pass or had been passed. The Sec said he would change the part the Pres. objected to.4

The Sec said re the Pres. forgetting the toast he had done nothing about it.5 The slant given it in the papers is that which Rountree gave to Hightower at the dinner when, thinking quickly, he had said that the King was just following American custom and the President was following Arabic custom. The Sec said it was best just to let it go.

  1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Dulles Papers, White House Telephone Conversations. Transcribed by Carolyn Proctor.↩
  2. On February 1, Rountree forwarded to Dulles a memorandum recommending that President Eisenhower send a message to Ben Gurion urging completion of the Israeli withdrawal and attached a draft of such a letter to his memorandum. In his covering memorandum, Rountree recalled that on November 8, 1956 Ben Gurion had reversed his position concerning Israel’s withdrawal from Sinai after receipt of a message from the President. (Department of State, NEA/IAI Files: Lot 70 D 229, Political Affairs & Relations 1957; the file copy does not contain a copy of Rountree’s draft letter.)↩
  3. Ellipsis in the source text.↩
  4. The revised text is printed as Document 54.↩
  5. At the State dinner held for KingSaud at the White House on February 1, President Eisenhower had forgotten to offer the customary toast to the King. Eisenhower later discussed the matter with Dulles who in turn repeated the content of their conversation to Rountree. (Memorandum of telephone conversation, 11:12 a.m., February 2; Eisenhower Library, Dulles Papers, General Telephone Conversations)↩