258. Memorandum From the Acting Secretary of State to the Secretary of State1
On Friday afternoon, September 2, reports from Gaza indicated that the fighting had quieted down and that no crisis was impending.
Later that afternoon I asked Mr.Allen, Mr. Wainhouse, and their staffs, to review the situation with me and to consider appropriate courses of action in the event that hostilities should be resumed. During the meeting Mr. Wainhouse brought in a long telegram which had been received from our Delegation in New York (unmis 207, September 2, copy attached2). Briefly, General Burns stated it was imperative in his opinion that a meeting of the Security Council should be called, as he felt any further moves on his part would prove fruitless in preventing renewed hostilities. He specifically proposed that such a meeting would call for a cease-fire, with certain specific additional proposals to physically separate the antagonistic elements.
In view of the lull in hostilities Friday afternoon, and after discussion with Ambassador Lodge in Massachusetts, we recommended that the Security Council not be called at that time.
This morning, however, the ticker carried reports of renewed hostilities in the Gaza area and a heavy artillery duel lasting for approximately 70 minutes. After consultation with Mr.Murphy, Mr.Allen, Mr. Wainhouse, and their staffs, and after several conversations with Ambassador Lodge on the telephone, we decided that there appeared no alternative except to ask for a meeting of the Security Council.
Ambassador Lodge found great objection from both the British and the French to having the SYG call for a meeting on his own initiative “for constitutional reasons”. In view of (a) the resumption of hostilities, and (b) British and French objections, it is planned that the British, French, and ourselves will request a Council meeting for Wednesday, September 7. The British and French are wiring their Foreign Offices for instructions and confirmation, and believe they will have no difficulty in obtaining authorization by Monday, September 5.
In discussing details of the title of the agenda item, Ambassador Lodge and Mr. Wainhouse are taking great care to restrict the wording so that it will not be necessary to determine the guilt of [Page 446] either party in the starting of these hostilities, and therefore avoid as much acrimonious debate as possible in the meeting, and furthermore to prevent any remote possibility of discussion ranging to such subjects as your Near East speech. The title of the agenda item will relate to a cease-fire and future acts, rather than to past.