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428080205
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Telephone Conversation with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel, August 9, 1989
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428080205
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document
title
Telephone Conversation with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel, August 9, 1989
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collections
Records of the National Security Council (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Presidential Telcon Files
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Israel
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428080205
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9
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1989-08-09
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8
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1989
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CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
6271
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
DECLASSIFIED
PER E.O. 12958,
AS AMENDED
2000-0429-F
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
ze 8/21/09
SUBJECT:
Telephone Conversation with Prime
Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel (U)
PARTICIPANTS:
The President
Prime Minister Shamir
Notetaker: C. David Welch
DATE, TIME, AND
August 9, 1989, 1:46 p.m. - 2:02 p.m.
PLACE:
The Oval Office
After an exchange of greetings and pleasantries, Prime Minister
Shamir mentioned that he had sent a letter to the President
through Ambassador Brown. Prime Minister Shamir said that he
wanted to have this personal conversation to explain Israel's
position better. (f)
Prime Minister Shamir expressed his admiration of the President's
handling of the hostage crisis and his respect for the
President's concern for the families of the hostages. PM Shamir
said that he was aware of the pain of this problem and of the
enormous burden on the President's shoulders. He repeated his
admiration for how the President was handling the situation.
(&)
The only reason for Israel's operation, PM Shamir continued, was
the "sacred principle" of a small nation that must struggle all
the time. It was necessary to show the nation that Israel
protected its soldiers, Shamir added. (&)
Prime Minister Shamir concluded by saying that he thought that
the result of this operation would be positive and would bring
the successful release of all the hostages, "because of your
brilliant diplomacy." ($)
The President replied that he was a little less optimistic and
that he did not know how serious Iran was. The President said
that he had told a recent press conference that he didn't want to
miss any signals. He said that he was interested in Shamir's
thought that it would all turn out positively. The President
noted that the United States was upset now, as much as it had
ever been in the history of this problem. The American people
are unified and deeply concerned. A release would be very good,
the President concluded.
(f)
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Declassify on: OADR
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2
Prime Minister Shamir thanked the President for this "optimistic
note. " Only America can achieve it, he continued. Thank God for
the United States, Shamir said.
(U)
The President offered to tell Shamir what we had been trying to
do. He noted that we had heard some very interesting signals
from Iran. Rafsanjani's position was far from certain, since
certain elements are opposed to him. As for the Syrians, the
President continued, we don't know that they were involved in the
hostage matter, but it was clear that they were not doing
anything. The President mentioned that he had been in touch with
the Soviets, the ICRC, and the United Nations Secretary General.
(f)
Noting that he had heard of the death of an Israeli soldier in a
recent terrorist incident, the President said that people all
over the world shared a revulsion at this sort of brutality. (U)
Continuing, the President stated that the United States and
Israel had experienced some difficulties in communication between
ourselves and that he did not want there to be any differences in
the period ahead. The President referred to the meeting between
NSC Advisor Brent Scowcroft and Israeli Ambassador Moshe Arad;
this meeting cleared the air and we wanted to continue along
those lines. (d)
Prime Minister Shamir replied that Israel would keep the United
States informed and would stay in close touch. He said they
would pray for your success and for all of us. PM Shamir
expressed his hope that "our connection" would continued to be
strong. (f)
The President said that Shamir should have no doubt regarding the
strength of U.S. support for Israel and for the U.S. -Israeli
relationship. He urged that we take each other into confidence
so that there were no disconnects. The relationship should be a
two-way street. (f)
Prime Minister Shamir responded that he was happy to hear the
President's views. There were no doubts about the friendly
feelings and great friendship between us. Israel relied on the
United States. The Soviets have told Israel that the USSR was
ready to do something, but Israel relied on the United States, PM
Shamir stated. (c)
If the USSR could be helpful, that would not bother us, the
President said. He had no reservations about their help and
Israel trying to improve relations with them. It was not our
business (to tell Israel how to respond), but if the Soviets
could help, then the United States would not object. However,
the President said that so far he had not seen any results from
the Soviets. (f)
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3
Prime Minister Shamir replied that the Soviets' "great interest"
was to be involved, but they did not demonstrate any readiness to
do something. (l)
The President raised the peace process, expressing his hope that
some moderate Palestinians would come forward to address the
Israeli government's peace initiative. He noted that the United
States was trying to encourage this. (d)
Prime Minister Shamir said that the United States and Israel
shared the same views and sentiments about looking for moderate
Palestinian elements. Peace was Israel's great dream. Returning
to the hostages issue, PM Shamir stated that with combined
efforts we would achieve our goal. (d)
The President asked if Israel's POW's were still alive. (d)
Prime Minister Shamir replied that he did not know. We thought
one was still alive, he said, but we did not know about the
others. Israel wanted some sign of life. If negotiations were
to begin, then this sign of life was the necessary first step.
There was no reason to give anything for someone not alive. (d)
The President mentioned his interest in recovering Higgins' body.
(C)
PM Shamir expressed his condolences for the death of Higgins.
(U)
The President thanked PM Shamir for taking the initiative to
call. He said that he was glad he had done so and that he should
continue to feel free to call anytime. (U)
After parting pleasantries, the conversation concluded. (U)
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