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    "localId": "207522362",
    "label": "Memorandum from Secretary of State Dean Acheson to President Harry S. Truman",
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    "id": "207522362",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Memorandum from Secretary of State Dean Acheson to President Harry S. Truman",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/207522362",
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{
    "seq": 2,
    "pageIndex": 0,
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    "ocrText": "TOP SECRET\n- 2 -\nRECERDS\nSERVICE\"\ncomparable treatment. Saudi Arabia is already receiving considerable\nassistance from us. Within the limited scope of the MSP, we would\nlike to meet these demands to the extent possible but with the proviso\nthat recipient states cooperate with SACME.\nIsrael presents a special problem in connection with SACME. The\nmission of SACME is to defend the Middle East as a whole, and thus the\ndefense of Israel is clearly one of its responsibilities. There is\nlittle doubt that Israel will be prepared to cooperate fully with SACME.\nOn the other hand, the Arab refugees and the creation of Israel has in\nlarge measure brought into being the neutralist tendencies in the Arab\nStates which, it is hoped the establishment of SACME will overcome.\nWhether Egypt and the other Arab States will cooperate with SACME is\nstill in grave doubt. One of the ways to influence the Arab States\nagainst SACME is too public association of Israel with the Allied Command\nat this formative stage. In consequence, the US, UK, France (and pos-\nsibly Turkey) may find it desirable to remind Israel that its security\nvis-a-vis the Arab States is still protected by the Tripartite Declaration\nof May 25, 1950, and to ask Israel not to insist upon a prominent role\nin the new Allied Command until it is firmly established with the Arabs.\nThis will require considerable forebearance on the part of Israel,\nparticularly when material US and Allied aid is given Egypt as a part\nof the buildup of Egypt to play a major role in the defense of the\nMiddle East. On the other hand, Prime Minister Ben Gurion and the other\nimportant Israelis have always asserted that Egypt is the key to peace\nbetween the Arab States and Israel, i.e., if Egypt will sign a peace\ntreaty, the other Arab States will do likewise. One of the important\nobjectives behind the establishment of the Allied Command structure is\nthat it will give Egypt and the other Arab States something more pro-\nductive to think about than their feud with Israel and thus pave the\nway for an eventual peace settlement.\nIt is provided that SACME through his liaison organization will work\nclosely but quietly with Israel from the establishment of his Command.\nIsrael will not, however, be offered the same status in the Command that\nTurkey and Egypt will enjoy if they accept the proposals which the UK,\nUS and France will make to them.\nThe foregoing is set forth in the expectation that you may be\napproached by people who will state that Egypt, which still claims to be\nat war with Israel, is receiving treatment in the new Command structure\npreferential to that accorded Israel. The answer is that the new Command,\nwith Egypt in full and equal partnership with the US, UK, France and\nTurkey does not alter Israel's security position; provision has been\nmade for Israel's participation in the work of the Command, the existence\nof\nTOP SECRET"
}