The Rogers Plan


31. Memorandum From the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Group on the Israeli Nuclear Weapons Program (Davies) to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) and Acting Secretary of State Richardson

Source: Washington National Records Center, OSD Files: FRC 330–75–0103, Box 12, Israel. Top Secret; Nodis. Drafted on May 29 in the State and Defense Departments.


32. Telegram From the Embassy in Jordan to the Department of State

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 619, Country Files, Middle East, Jordan Nodis/Sandstorm. Secret; Priority; Nodis; Sandstorm.


33. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Israel

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 756, Presidential Correspondence 1969–1974, Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir, 1969. Secret; Nodis. Drafted on June 17 by Sterner; cleared by Atherton, Davies, and Saunders; and approved by Sisco.


34. Memorandum From Secretary of State Rogers to President Nixon

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 651, Country Files, Middle East, Middle East (1969). Secret; Nodis.


35. Memorandum for the Record

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–038, Senior Review Group Meetings, Review Group NSSM 40—Israel 6/20/69. Top Secret; Nodis; Sensitive. Drafted by Saunders on June 24. All brackets are in the original except those indicating text that remains classified.


36. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 604, Country Files, Middle East, Israel, Vol. II. Secret; Nodis. Drafted by Saunders on June 25. The conversation occurred on the evening of June 20 at Sisco’s home. Saunders attached his record of this conversation to a July 1 “eyes only” memorandum for Kissinger noting: “There are no immediate operational conclusions to be drawn from this, except to be wary of Eban’s vague statements.” Saunders explained that because of the “extremely personal nature of Rabin’s talk,” he would not distribute the memorandum “through the system.” (Ibid.)


37. Paper Prepared by the Ad Hoc Special Review Group on the Israeli Nuclear Weapons Program

Source: Washington National Records Center, OSD Files: FRC 330–75–0103, Box 12, Israel. Top Secret; Nodis. The paper is attached to a July 12 memorandum from NSC Staff Secretary Jeanne W. Davis to Rogers, Laird, Wheeler, Richardson, and Helms. All brackets are in the original except those indicating text that remains classified. It was supposed to serve as the basis of a July 16 meeting of the special committee of the NSC, which the President cancelled after he approved a July 19 memorandum that outlined guidance for Richardson and Packard in their meeting with Rabin on the nuclear weapons issue. See Documents 38 and 41.


38. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 337, Subject Files. Top Secret; Nodis; Sensitive. Sent for action. Tabs A–E are attached. Tabs A and C–E are not printed. Tab B is printed as Document 37. All brackets are in the original except those indicating text that remains classified.


39. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Sisco) to President Nixon and Secretary of State Rogers

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 650, Country Files, Middle East, Middle East Negotiations. Secret; Nodis. Sisco’s memorandum is attached to a July 23 memorandum from Kissinger to Nixon, which is stamped: “The President has seen.” Kissinger wrote that Sisco’s “most interesting reflections” were that: 1) Soviet officials judged that they could “live with the present situation in the Near East”; and 2) the United States could “get through the next six weeks with the British and French,” but they would “become restless” if no progress was made by the time the UN General Assembly opened on September 16.


40. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to Acting Secretary of State Richardson

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 337, Subject Files. Top Secret; Nodis; Sensitive. Drafted by Saunders.


41. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 605, Country Files, Middle East, Israel, Vol. III. Top Secret; Nodis. Drafted by Atherton. An unsigned covering memorandum from Richardson to Nixon was drafted by Atherton on July 31. (Ibid., RG 59, Lot Files, Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Office of Israel and Arab-Israel Affairs, 1951–1976, Box 27) Sisco’s July 28 briefing memorandum with talking points for Richardson is ibid., Central Files 1967–69, DEF 12–1 ISR. It is published in National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 189, Document 13.


42. Telegram From the Embassy in Israel to the Department of State

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 604, Country Files, Middle East, Israel, Vol. II. Secret; Nodis. All brackets are in the original except those indicating garbled text.


43. Letter From the Representative to the United Nations (Yost) to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, White House Special Files, Subject Files, Box 5, Confidential Files 1969–74. Secret & Personal.


44. Memorandum for the Record

Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box TS–76, Committees and Panels, Washington Special Actions Group, July–August, 1969. Top Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only. All brackets are in the original except those indicating text omitted by the editors. At the July 2 WSAG meeting, Kissinger asked Johnson “to see what could be done bureaucratically to set up a Middle East planning element.” Johnson replied that he would “look into what has been done in Middle East planning in the recent past and under the former administration.” At the August 8 WSAG meeting, the group decided that a Middle East scenario should be conceived “based on Arab attack of Israel, with Soviet military assistance extending beyond the now-existing border between the Arab States and Israel.” Minutes of both meetings are ibid.

In National Security Decision Memorandum 19, July 3, Nixon directed that the political-military contingency plans prepared by NSC Interdepartmental Groups be forwarded to the Washington Special Actions Group. (Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box CL–314, National Security Memoranda) The WSAG was created on May 16 when the President directed that the Interdepartmental Coordinating Committee on Korea “be constituted on a permanent basis in the event of future similar crises worldwide.” Kissinger explained that Nixon “visualizes” that the WSAG would “confine itself to consideration of the policies and plans affecting crises.” Furthermore, “implementation of policy decisions and coordination of operations” would be “conducted through the interagency Crisis Task Forces prescribed by the Under Secretaries Committee under the authority of NSDM 8.” (Memorandum from Kissinger to Rogers, Laird, and Helms, May 16; ibid.) For NSDM 8, dated March 21, and Kissinger’s May 16 memorandum, see Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, volume II, Organization and Management of U.S. Foreign Policy, 1969–1972, Documents 31 and 45.


45. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 634, Country Files, Middle East, UAR, Vol. I. Top Secret; Sensitive. Sent for information. Both Nixon and Kissinger were at the Western White House in San Clemente.


47. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 644, Country Files, Middle East, Middle East—General. Secret; Nodis. Printed from an uninitialed copy.


48. Minutes of a National Security Council Meeting

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–109, NSC Meeting Minutes, NSC Minutes Originals 1969. Top Secret; Nodis. All brackets are in the original except those indicating text that remains classified. According to the President’s Daily Diary, the meeting was held in the Cabinet Room from 10:17 a.m. to 12:24 p.m. (Ibid., White House Central Files)


49. Telegram From the Mission to the United Nations to the Department of State

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1170, Saunders Files, Middle East Negotiations Files, Middle East Settlement—US–USSR Talks. Secret; Priority; Nodis. Saunders sent this telegram to Kissinger under cover of a September 19 memorandum. (Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, volume XII, Soviet Union, January 1969–October 1970, Document 80)


50. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1170, Saunders Files, Middle East Negotiation Files, Middle East Settlement—US–USSR Talks. Secret; Exdis. Drafted by Yost on September 23. All brackets are in the original except those indicating text omitted by the editors. The dinner meeting was held in the Secretary General’s suite at the United Nations.


51. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 644, Country Files, Middle East—General. Secret. Sent for information. All brackets are in the original except those indicating text that remains classified. Haig sent Kissinger’s memorandum back to him on October 7 to alert him to comments that Nixon wrote on it.


52. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1237, Saunders Files, Chronological Files, Israel. Secret; Exdis. Drafted by Saunders on September 30. The meeting was held in the Cabinet Room of the White House. All brackets are in the original. “Draft” is written at the top of the first page.


53. Memorandum From Harold Saunders of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 650, Country Files, Middle East, Middle East Negotiations, July 1–October 1969. Secret; Nodis. Sent for information. A stamped notation on the first page reads: “HAK has seen.” Attached but not printed are telegrams 3324 from USUN, October 1, which reported Rogers’s meeting with Gromyko that day, and telegram 3322 from USUN, October 1, which reported Sisco’s meeting with Dobrynin on September 29.


54. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 644, Country Files, Middle East, Middle East—General, Vol. II. Top Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only. Drafted on October 1 by Kissinger and Haig. Printed from a copy that indicates that Kissinger initialed the original. A note at the top of the page reads: “Hand carried to Ken Cole 10/2/69—Mid East.”


55. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 605, Country Files, Middle East, Israel, Vol. III. Top Secret; Nodis; Sensitive. Sent for action. All brackets are in the original.


56. Minutes of a Washington Special Actions Group Meeting

Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box TS–76, Committees and Panels, Washington Special Actions Group, October 1969. Top Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only. All brackets are in the original except those indicating text omitted by the editors. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room.


57. Memorandum From Harold Saunders of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 1169, Saunders Files, Middle East Negotiations Files, Middle East Settlement—US–USSR Talks. Secret; Nodis. Sent for action. A typed notation at the top of the page reads: “This is the version that went to Joe Sisco 10/27/69.” All brackets are in the original.


58. Paper Prepared in the Department of State

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 650, Country Files, Middle East, Middle East Negotiations. Secret. Attached to a November 16 memorandum from Rogers to Nixon. Sisco presented this paper, which became known as the Rogers Plan, to Dobrynin on October 28. See Document 61.


59. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 605, Country Files, Middle East, Israel, Vol. III. Secret; Exdis. Sent for action. Printed from a copy that indicates Kissinger signed the original. All brackets are in the original except “[their?]”, added for clarity.


60. Minutes of a Washington Special Actions Group Meeting

Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–114, Washington Special Actions Group, WSAG Minutes (Originals) 1969 and 1970. Top Secret; Sensitive. All brackets are in the original except “[sic]”, added for clarity. The meeting was held in the White House Situation Room.