132. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, March 10, 1960, 3:45 p.m.1
SUBJECT
- Israel’s Security
PARTICIPANTS
- United States
- The Under Secretary
- The Under Secretary for Political Affairs
- IO—Assistant Secretary Wilcox
- NEA—Assistant Secretary G. Lewis Jones
- NE—Armin H. Meyer
- Israel
- Prime Minister Ben Gurion
- Ambassador Avraham Harman
- Minister Yaacov Herzog
- Minister Aryeh Manor
While expressing confidence in general concerning Israel’s military capabilities, Prime Minister Ben Gurion indicated that Israel’s chief worry is a surprise air raid attack by the United Arab Republic. Individually Israel’s pilots are far superior to UAR pilots, he said, but the UAR has several advantages and the threat will increase as UAR pilots become better trained in the use of their high-quality Soviet aircraft. The UAR is receiving bombers with larger capacity, able to carry up to ten tons of bombs. With 27 airfields in the UAR it will be impossible for Israeli aircraft to prevent a raid from reaching Tel Aviv. There are 600,000 people living in the Tel Aviv region. Tel Aviv could be destroyed by two or three successive days of bombing. A successful surprise attack would also make it impossible for Israel to mobilize her ground forces for defense. In the face of this situation, Israel’s great need, the Prime Minister said, is for anti-aircraft missiles. Noting how the Israelis had surprised even U.S. intelligence agencies when launching the Sinai campaign, he stressed Israel could easily keep secret the fact that the U.S. was supplying missile weapons.
The Under Secretary replied that the arms list submitted by the Israelis is being given careful study by the Defense Department. In this connection the Prime Minister’s listing of priorities in his conversation with the President2 will be helpful. It had been noted that anti-aircraft missiles had been given highest priority.
The Prime Minister stressed the urgency of Israel’s obtaining adequate anti-air raid protection. He asserted that he did not take Nasser’s present speechmaking seriously, but one could never tell when a Nasser [Page 290] whim inspired by troubles with Syria or Iraq might prompt a senseless Nasser military venture. Noting that Mr. Khrushchev’s anti-religious attitudes are concentrated against the Jewish religion, the Prime Minister suggested that Khrushchev when the moment was propitious might give Nasser the signal to undertake a military adventure against Israel.
The Prime Minister expressed the opinion that war does not solve problems. Any exception to this rule was the fight against Hitler. He also suggested that many people had now changed their minds as to the value of Israel’s expedition in Sinai. His point was that the Israelis are determined to fight to preserve their existence.
Prime Minister Ben-Gurion noted that Israel has been receiving major arms supplies from the French and the British. He was confident that the French would continue to be helpful. He was seeing Prime Minister Macmillan next week and hoped that the British would continue to provide arms but he was not sure. However, there were certain items which were only available in the United States. Among these were anti-aircraft missiles and certain aviation electronic equipment. Both of these items were defensive in nature and were essential to Israel’s safety.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that Israel is carrying a most heavy financial burden. It must make unusual expenditures in the field of education because of the diversity of Israel’s population. Furthermore, the settling of immigrants is exceedingly costly. He expressed his conviction that it is in United States interest to see this small friendly democracy continue to live. He reiterated that Israel’s present primary need is assistance with its security problem and hoped that the U.S. would bear Israel’s financial problem in mind in considering their request.
The Under Secretary repeated that Israel’s arms request is under study by our military authorities. The Prime Minister emphasized that time was of the essence.