403. Summary of a Telephone Conversation Between President Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Begin 1
SUBJECT
- Summary of Telephone Conversation with Prime Minister Begin in Israel
PARTICIPANTS
- President Jimmy Carter
- Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin
The President: Good Morning Mr. Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Begin: Good Morning Mr. President. I want to congratulate you on the tripartite agreement to resume the talks.2
[Page 1347]The President: I’m very happy about it and we are very eager to see it move forward. Commensurate with the desires of you and President Sadat, we will do anything you all want us to.
Prime Minister Begin: I want to tell you, Mr. President, Sol Linowitz did a marvelous job. I did a little to help him.
The President: Yes, I know you did. I’m looking forward to getting a personal report when he returns.
Prime Minister Begin: Yes, he did a marvelous job.
The President: Well that’s good news.
Prime Minister Begin: Yes, that’s good for him, and we are very grateful that you sent him over. He was pessimistic in the beginning, but then it developed. Mr. President, as far as the possible Summit meeting, I just want to tell you that I don’t mind whether it takes place before or after the 4th of November. It is up to you to decide. I can come at any moment that you decide is convenient, but if it should happen after the 4th of November then I would suggest to start at the end of November or the beginning of December. I will be in your country on November 9–15.3
The President: Well good.
Prime Minister Begin: For the Centenary of the (indistinct) Institute, I will make several speeches and because of that I still have to be careful by doctor’s orders.
The President: Yes I know, I want you to be careful.
Prime Minister Begin: Combining together the Summit with my other responsibilities would be difficult.
The President: I understand, we’ll certainly accommodate your inclinations on the timing, as well as President Sadat’s, and you need not be concerned about that at all.
Prime Minister Begin: Yes, thank you very much.
The President: How’s your wife?
Prime Minister Begin: She’s all right. She will come with me.
The President: Oh, we look forward to seeing you then.
Prime Minister Begin: Our love to Mrs. Rosalynn.
The President: I’ll tell her in a few minutes. When you come over even for your unofficial visit concerning the centenary, I hope that you will have a chance to come by and see me, either unofficially or officially.
Prime Minister Begin: I’ll come over to Washington. I’ll instruct my friends to put the day in the itinerary.
[Page 1348]The President: I understand. Well I look forward to that. Give all your friends my best regards. Thank you for calling.
Prime Minister Begin: Thank you very much for everything.
The President: God Bless You.
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Office, Presidential Advisory Board, Box 79, Sensitive X: 9/80. Secret; Sensitive. Carter was in the Oval Office. Carter wrote, “OK. J.” in the upper right-hand corner of the summary. The summary was attached to a September 4 covering memorandum from Sick to Brzezinski. A handwritten note from Denend to Brzezinski on the covering memorandum reads: “Gary reports that within an hour of this conversation Begin made a public statement to the effect that he had been invited to meet with President Carter after the US election.” A separate handwritten note on the covering memorandum, in an unknown hand, states that Brzezinski hand carried the summary to Carter on September 5.↩
- See Document 402.↩
- See Document 411.↩