611.84A4/12–2850: Circular airgram

The Secretary of State to Certain Diplomatic and Consular Offices 1

confidential

The Department is in the final stages of negotiating a treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation with the Government of Israel and, unless unforeseen complications arise, it may be assumed that this treaty will be ready for signature by the two Governments by the end of January. It may be possible that announcement of the signature of such a treaty will have repercussions in the Arab states, [Page 1092] particularly criticism that the signing of a treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation between the United States and Israel is another manifestation of unduly close ties which allegedly exist between the two countries.

In answering such allegations, if they arise, the Department suggests that it might be useful to point out that such a treaty is not intended and should not be regarded as a token of special political favor toward the country with which it is signed nor as evidence of political disfavor toward any country with which no such treaty has yet been concluded. The objective of these treaties is to define by common agreement and to establish the rules to govern basic economic relations between the United States and individual foreign countries. The United States holds such treaties to be conducive to investment, trade and advantageous economic intercourse generally and thus to the upbuilding and prosperity of foreign countries. It sees in such treaties an instrument for developing a sound world economy rather than for obtaining localized political advantages, and it stands ready at any time to enter into negotiations, on the basis of full sovereign equality, with any friendly, like-minded country.

Furthermore, the United States has had underway for several years a program for negotiating such treaties with all countries prepared to do so. As a result of this program, treaties have been concluded with China, Italy, Uruguay and Ireland and negotiations are now in active stages of development with eight countries including four in the Eastern Mediterranean area, and draft negotiating proposals are being studied by a number of other governments.

As the Missions are aware, the Department has often indicated its desire to negotiate modern treaties of friendship, commerce and navigation with the Arab states, and proposals to this effect were made to certain of these countries as long ago as 1945 and 1946. Negotiations have been held intermittently with several Arab states since that time but have not been successfully consummated in some instances for reasons which the Department considers to be largely beyond its control. Moreover, as the Missions are also aware, the possibility of treaties with other Moslem countries, to which drafts have not yet been presented, has been carefully explored. In effect, therefore, all of the Arab states have been given ample opportunity to enter into negotiations with the United States, and considerable effort has even been expended to adapt our standard negotiating proposals to their particular needs. In this respect the Department has formulated an abridged, simplified draft of the standard version of the treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation for use in connection with the less-advanced countries of the Near East area. The possibility of negotiations was not taken [Page 1093] up with the Government of Israel until well after approaches had been made to the principal Arab states, and less than a month of formal negotiation has made early signature of the treaty a distinct possibility. This rapid progress may be attributable in large part to the determined interest of Israel in encouraging investment and to its like mindedness with the United States as to the most effective means for attaining that end.

Acheson
  1. At Baghdad, Jidda, Cairo, Amman, Beirut, and Damascus.