C

ISRAEL

Document VII-17

Announcement Issued by the Department of State, the Atomic Energy Commission, the Department of the Interior, and the Government of Israel, March 7, 19661

national Atomic Energy Agency which are not Members of the United Nations to make contributions appropriate to their circumstances;

1 Department of State Bulletin, Mar. 28, 1966, p. 494.

4. Decides that the contributions called for in paragraph 2 above may be made by a Member State, at its option, in the form of services and supplies acceptable to the SecretaryGeneral, furnished for use in connexion with the United Nations Emergency Force during the period from 1 January to 31 December 1967, for which the Member State does not require reimbursement, the Member State to be credited with the fair value thereof as agreed upon by the Member State and by the Secretary-General;

5. Decides that, for the purpose of the present resolution, the term "economically less developed Member States" shall mean all Member States except Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Sweden, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America.

1495th plenary meeting.

Completion of a Study for a Proposed Desalting Plant in Israel

The U.S.-Israel Joint Board has received the final report of the Engineering Feasibility and Economic Study performed under contract by Kaiser Engineers of Oakland, California, in association with Catalytic Construction Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania." The contract has

2 Single copies of the report are available

been jointly supported by the Governments of Israel and the United States, the latter represented by the Atomic Energy Commission and the Office of Saline Water of the Department of the Interior.

Pursuant to the program of cooperation in desalting agreed during Prime Minister Eshkol's visit of June 1964 with President Johnson, a Joint Team of experts made a preliminary review during the summer of 1964 of the possibilities of employing the rapidly advancing technology of saline water conversion to help meet Israel's growing water needs. As recommended by the team, the contractors have studied the engineering feasibility of a proposed dual-purpose (electric power-desalted water) facility for Israel. On the basis of the ground rules of the study, a nuclear powered 200 megawatt (electrical) and 100 million gallons of water per day plant, to be in commercial operation by 1972, was found technically feasible, assuming early initiation of design and the successful completion of a water plant module developmental program. The study, using 1965 prices, estimated the plant capital costs at about $200 million. Assuming a power credit of 5.3 mils per KWH, the resulting water costs would range from $.29 to $.67 per thousand gallons for fixed charge rates of 5 percent and 10 percent respectively.

The Joint Board, established by the two governments to oversee the study, has recommended that the final report be accepted by the contracting officer and is submitting the study to the two governments. The membership of the Joint Board included Aharon Wiener, Director of TAHAL (Water Planning for Israel); Dr. Haim Cats, the Israel Electric Corporation, Ltd.; and Dr. Shimon Yiftah, Israel Atomic Energy Commission, representing Israel. Milton A. Chase, Department of the Interior; Stewart F. Mulford, Office of Saline Water, Department of the Interior; and Jack O. Roberts, Atomic Energy Commission, represented the United States.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has participated in this co

from the Clearing House for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, National Bureau of Standards, U.S. Department of Commerce, Springfield, Va. 22151. [Footnote in source text.]

3 See American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1964, pp. 703-704, 707-708.

operative program, beginning with the Joint Team's preliminary survey in 1964. Mr. Donat B. Brice, IAEA Desalting Specialist located in Vienna, participated in the latest activities of the Joint Board.'

Document VII-18

Replies Made by the Director of the Office of News (McCloskey), Department of State, to Questions Asked at a News Conference, May 20, 1966 (Excerpts) 5

United States Decision To Sell "a Limited Number of Tactical Aircraft" to Israel

... The United States Government has agreed to extend a military sales arrangement with Israel to include a limited number of tactical aircraft. This decision reflects our due regard for security in the Near East, our intention to avoid serious arms imbalances that would jeopardize area stability, and our general restraint as to the military equipment supplied to that area.

I would like to state rather affirmatively that there is no connection between the sale to Israel and the sales of equipment to Jordan. The decision on the part of the United States Government in the transaction at hand grows out of our assessment of the legitimate defense needs of Israel.

Document VII-19

Toast of the President of the United States (Johnson) to the President of Israel (Shazar) at a State Dinner, Washington, August 2, 1966

On Oct. 13, President Johnson stated that Ambassador at Large Ellsworth Bunker had been asked to review proposals for a desalting_electric power project in Israel (Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966, vol. II, p. 1165).

5 Department of State Files. See also The New York Times, May 20 and 21, 1966. See post, doc. VII-20.

The U.S. Government has, over the years, provided Jordan with limited amounts of arms to meet its defense requirements. We can confirm that an agreement has recently been reached between the United States and Jordan providing for Jordanian purchase of a limited number of military jet aircraft for its air defense system to replace older models.

Just as we will continue to refrain from becoming a principal supplier of arms to the Near East, so does it remain our policy not to discuss the specifics of arms transactions as they occur. Therefore, we are not in a position to go into the details of the equipment sold in this case.

Our sale to Jordan was made both in the light of Jordan's defense requirements and in accordance with our policy of preventing instability from developing in the Near East. It is consistent with our due regard for area security and our general restraint as to the equipment supplied.

* Department of State Bulletin, Apr. 25, 1966, p. 663.

Question of Oman

The General Assembly,

Having considered the chapter of the report of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Co

8 On Dec. 22, 1966, the Department of State announced that the United States would expedite delivery of the 36 F-104_jet planes which it had agreed to sell to Jordan. In addition to this, several million dollars worth of armaments, principally defensive equipment such as trucks and personnel carriers, was to be sent to Jordan to enable that country to strengthen its defenses, insure its integrity, and promote stability in the area. Jordan, following the Nov. 13 raid against it by Israel (see ante, docs. VII-12, 14), had been under heavy pressure and criticism from some Arab Governments because of its ties with the United States (see The New York Times, Dec. 1 and 23, 1966).

As a result of this pressure, Jordan agreed, at the meeting of the Arab League Defense Council, to allow entry onto its soil-within 2 months of troops from Iraq and Saudi Arabia, provided that U.N. troops were first withdrawn from the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula and replaced by U.A.R. forces. Jordan did not assent to the entry of troops from Syria or the Palestine Liberation Organization (see ibid., Dec. 12, 1966).

U.N. doc. A/6316, pp. 77-78. This resolution was adopted by a vote of 70 to 18 (including the U.K. and the U.S.), with 28 abstentions. The United States opposed the resolution because it maintained, as did the United Kingdom, that the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman was not a British dependency but a sovereign and independent state, and that the U.N. resolution constituted interference in the internal affairs of a state (U.S. Participation in the U.N., 1966, p. 37).

SAUDI ARABIA

Document VII-22

Joint Communiqué Issued at Washington by the President of the United States (Johnson) and the King of Saudi Arabia (Faisal), June 22, 1966 17

Saudi Arabian-United States Discussions on Matters of Mutual Interest

At the invitation of President Johnson, His Majesty King Faisal ibn Abdul Aziz al-Saud is paying an official visit to the United States of America. His Majesty and the distinguished members of the Saudi Arabian Government who accompanied him were warmly welcomed by the President and members of the United States Government. They subsequently met with the President and with senior members of the United States Government for a comprehensive review of problems of mutual concern to their countries and their peoples.

In these talks they noted with approval the close and cordial relations which have long existed between Saudi Arabia and the United States of America. These relations are based on mutual respect, a common belief in the basic principles of freedom, justice and human dignity and the independence and territorial integrity of all states. They reaffirmed their opposition to aggression, in any form, and their determination to continue the efforts of their two governments to promote the cause of peace with honor and dignity for all. They asserted the importance of solving international problems by peaceful means on the basis of right and justice. They supported the right of peoples to selfdetermination.

They reviewed the great strides that have already been made in the improvement of material and social conditions of their countries and pledged

11 Department of State Bulletin, July 11, 1966, p. 42. King Faisal paid a state visit to the United States, June 20-30, 1966, and held talks with President Johnson in Washington on June 21-22.

The Near and Middle East

18 King Faisal received no official welcome upon his arrival in New York. Mayor John Lindsay canceled a scheduled dinner for the King because of remarks attributed to the latter, at a news conference in Washington on June 22, to the effect that "Jews support Israel, and we consider those who provide assistance to our enemies as our own enemies". Governor Nelson Rockefeller also canceled a scheduled appointment with King Faisal (The New York Times, June 23 and 24, 1966).

19 U.N. doc. A/6702, p. 58. The U.N. Security Council considered the question of alleged aggression against the Federation of South Arabia at its 1296th through 1300th meetings, Aug. 4-16, 1966.

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