867N.01/5–1448
Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs (Henderson) to the Under Secretary of State (Lovett)
In order to complete the record on recognition, Mr. Epstein’s letter to the Secretary of May 141 should be answered and in our opinion the answer should also be dated May 14.2
[Page 1002]We should reply to this letter since we understand that it is the basis of the statement of the President that recognition of the provisional government had been requested.
In drafting this reply we have taken the following into consideration:
- 1.
- In order that it may be clear why the announcement and our letter are dated May 14, whereas the mandate did not terminate until May 15, and that there may not be any misunderstanding as to the time of recognition, the letter of reply should show the exact moment at which recognition took effect, namely the moment of issuance, 6:11 p. m., Washington time or 12:11 a. m. May 15, Palestine time.
- 2.
- Epstein should be given no title in our communication to him3 since we have not as yet been informed officially as to who are members of the government of the new State, or that Mr. Epstein is qualified to speak for the new State in Washington. We have apparently taken the position that Mr. Epstein, as a representative of the Jewish Agency up to 6 p. m. May 14, had the right to speak for the Jewish Agency and the coming successor of the Jewish Agency, the Provisional Jewish Government. We do not as yet know officially what his capacity and title are after 6 p. m., and will not know until we have been informed.
- 3.
- We have limited the reply to an acknowledgment of the letter and to a statement as to the time and substance of the President’s announcement, because we do not consider it suitable to go any further in communicating with a person whose representational position has not as yet been clarified. We have not, for instance, indicated whether by granting de facto recognition to the provisional government of the state of Israel we recognize the boundaries of the new state to be identical with those set forth in Mr. Epstein’s letter to the Secretary. At the appropriate time we might desire to indicate that our de faceto recognition does not necessarily mean that we recognize that the frontiers of the new Jewish state are the same as those outlined in the recommendation of the General Assembly of November 29, 1947, that those boundaries had been determined upon with the understanding that there would be an economic union of all Palestine and a special international regime for Jerusalem.
It seems to us that the new government of Israel should give us further information with regard to its composition, purposes, structure, etc. This matter, however, will be made the subject of a special memorandum.