CABLE TO BRENT SCOWCROFT FROM HENRY KISSINGER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
• Release Decision: RIPLIM
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: January 11, 2017
• Document Release Date: December 4, 2009
• Sequence Number: 68
• Publication Date: April 29, 1974
• Content Type: CABLE

No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
S E C R E T SPNSI TT VE 9910A-4Z APR 74
IMMEDIATE
FROM: SECRETARY KISSINGER - GENEVA 048
TO: GENERAL SCOWCROFT
HA KTO 04
PLEASE PASS URGENTLY TO DINITZ FOR PRIME MINISTER
QUOTE
DEAR MADAME PRIME MINISTER:
I AM WRITING TO YOU9 NOT AS SECRETARY OF STATE BUT AS
A FRIEND, AS WE APPROACH WHAT CAN BE THE MOST DECISIVE TWO
WEEKS IN THE LONG SEARCH OUR TWO COUNTRIES HAVE PURSUED
TOGETHER FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. I AM WRITING BECAUSE
I AM DEEPLY TROUBLED BY THE MOOD I SENSE DEVELOPING IN
ISRAEL.
GIVEN YOUR COUNTRY'S MEMORIES OF THE PAST TWENTY FIVE
YEARS AND THE EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE RECENTLY GONE THROUGH, THE
CONCERNS THAT ARE REFLECTED IN THE PUBLIC MOOD OF ISRAEL
TODAY, AS I SENSE IT, ARE NOT UNNATURAL. I DO NOT WANT TO
DWELL ON THE RECENT SITUATION IN THE SECURITY COUNCIL BUT I
KNOW THAT OUR VOTE HAS ADDED TO YOUR CONCERNS, BECAUSE OF THE
IMPORTANCE ISRAEL ATTACHES TO THE UNITED STATES POSITION AS A
COUNTERWEIGHT TO UNFRIENDLY OR INDIFFERENT ELEMENTS IN THE
COUNCIL.
YOU ARE AWARE OF THE SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH WE
LABORED IN THE RECENT COUNCIL DELIBERATIONS. EVEN WITHOUT THESE,
HOWEVER, THE RESOLUTION -- WHILE BY NO MEANS BALANCED AS WE
WOULD HAVE WISHED -- CAME CLOSER TO BALANCE THAN ANY BEFORE IT
IN RECENT YEARS. WE WOULD NOrHAVE TAKEN THE POSITION WE DID
IF THIS HAD NOT BEEN OUR HONEST OBJECTIVE JUDGMENT. IN
ADDITION, WE MADE SEVERAL STRONG UNILATERAL STATEMENTS
UNDERLINING OUR POSITION IN CONDEMNATION OF THE ATROCITY
AT QIRYAT SHMONA.
IT IS TERRIBLY IMPORTANT, MADAME PRIME MINISTER, THAT
YOU NOT LET YOURSELF BE PERSUADED, AND THAT YOU DO ALL IN
YOUR POWER TO KEEP THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL FROM FEARING THAT THE
SECURITY COUNCIL VOTE AND OTHER RECENT DEVELOPMENTS, WHICH
I KNOW ARE VERY MUCH ON YOUR MIND, MEAN IN ANY WAY THAT
ISRAEL STANDS ALONE OR WILL STAND ALONE. SO LONG AS I HAVE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONDUCT OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY, THIS
WILL NOT HAPPEN.
State Dept. review
completed
ON-FILE NSC RELEASE
INSTRUCTIONS APPLY
WE HAVE WORKED TOGETHER FOR FIVE YEARS, AND YOU MUST KNOW
THAT I WOULD NEVER DO ANYTHING THAT WOULD JEOPARDIZE ISRAEL'S
SECURITY. I BELIEVE THAT OUR DIPLOMACY, BOLSTERED BY YOUR
WISE GUIDANCE OF ISRAELI POLICY, HAS BROUGHT US AN IMPORTANT
WAY ALONG A PATH THAT WILL ASSURE ISR'AEL`'' SECURITY AND, INDEED,
ITS---LONG-TERM SU1 A-L. .,ATE ARE CONDUCTING-.OUR DIPLOMA-MIN
CIRCUMSTANCES OF EXTREME DIFFICULTY, "COMPLEXITY AND '' Ltft Ti'Y.
IF IT IS IN YOUR INTERESTS AND OURS, AS I BELIEVE IT IS, TO
REDUCE SOVIET INFLUENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND TO PROMOTE
STABILITY, WE MUSHT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONTINUE TO CONDUCT
OUR DIPLOMACY AND PURSUE THE CONSTANT OBJECTIVES YOU AND
WE SHARE WITH THE FLEXIBILITY THE TACTICAL SITUATION REQUIRES.
CERTAINLY OUR ACTIONS WERE AFFECTED BY OUR NEED TO ENLIST
MODERATE ARAR b ctio nt Declassification in Part 2009/1
No Objection
ISRAEL S I -- 2/04 : LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
-- - ~
 MY MF No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
TO SAY, AS URGENTLY AS I CAN, HOW TRAGIC IT WOULD BE IF THE
UNDERSTANDABLE ANXIETIES ARISING FROM A PARTICULAR TACTICAL
SITUATION -- WHETHER IT BE THE SECURITY COUNCIL VOTE OR ANY
OTHER -- WERE TO LEAD TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THERE HAD BEEN A
MOMENTOUS AND FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE IN U.S. POLICY. THERE HAS NOT
BEEN AND WILL NOT BE, IF IT IS IN OUR POWER TO PREVENT IT.
BUT IF OUR PRESENT DIPLOMACY FAILS IN THE CRITICAL
PERIOD AHEAD, IT WILL BE BEYOND OUR POWER TO PREVENT A
RESUMPTION OF HOSTILITIES, A REUTRN OF DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS TO
UNMANAGEABLE INTERNATIONAL FORUMS, A RESTORATION OF SOVIET
DOMINANCE I N THE AREA, AND EXTREME JEOPARDY TO THE PROGRESS
THAT HAS BEEN SO PAINFULLY ACHIEVED IN RECENT MONTHS. IN THE FACE
OF CERTAIN EUROPEAN AND JAPANESE HOSTILITY AND A US DOMESTIC
OPINION INFLUENCED BY ANOTHER ENERGY CRISIS THE CONSEQUENCES
WOULD BE THE GRAVEST SINCE ISRAELI INDEPENDENCE.
WE MUST NOT PERMIT PREOCCUPATION WITH ANXIETIES OF
THE MOMENT TO OBSCURE THE REALTY THAT WHAT IS AT STAKE IS THE
FUTURE OF ISRAEL'S PLACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. WE BOTH HAVE
AN OBLIGATION, MADAME PRIME MINISTER, TO KEEP THAT SUPREME
OBJECTIVE IN THE CENTER OF OUR THOUGHTS AND TO WORK TO
PRODUCE CONDITIONS THAT WILL MAKE ITS ACHIEVEMENT POSSIBLE.
I WILL WANT TO GO INTO ALL THIS IN DEPTH WITH YOU WHEN
WE MEET, AND CANNOT URGE TOO STRONGLY THAT NO DECISIONS BE
TAKEN MEANWHILE THAT WOULD FORECLOSE ANY OF THE OPPORTUNITIES
WHICH LIE BEFORE US.
WARM PERSONAL REGARDS,
HENRY A. KISSINGER.
UNQUOTE.
S E C R E T SENSITIVE
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
SECRET/SENSITIVE HAKTO
TO: GENERAL SCOWCROFT
FROM. SECRETARY KISSINGER
PLEASE PASS TO DINITZ FOR PRIME MINISTER
QUO TE
Lear Madame Prime Minister:
I am writing to you, not as Secretary of State but as
a friend., as we approach what can be the most decisive two
weeks in the long search our two countries have pursued
together for peace in the Middle East. I am writing because
I am deeply troubled by the mood I sense develpting in
Israel.
Given your country's memories of the past twenty five
years and the experiences you have recently gone through, the
concerns that are reflected in the public mood of Israel
today, as I sense it, are not unnatural. I do not want to
dwell on the recent situation in the Security Council but I
know that our vote has added to your concerns, because of the
importance Israel attaches to the United States position as a.
counterweight to unfriendly or indifferent elements in the
Council.
You are aware of the special circumstances under which we
labored in the recent Council deliberations. Even without these,
however, the resolution -- while by no means balanced as we
would have wished -- came closer to balance than any before it
SECRET/SENSITIVE
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
 . No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
a W
SECRET/SENSITIVE -2-
in recent years. We would not have taken the position we did
if this had not been our honest objective judgment. In addition,
we made several strong unilateral statements underlining our
position in condemnation of the atrocity at Qiryat Sbmona.
It is terribly important, Madame Prime Minister, that
you not let yourself be persuaded, and that you do all in
your power to keep the people of Israel from fearing that the
Security Council vote and other recent developments, which
I know are very much on your mind, mean in any way that Israel
stands alone or will stand alone. So long as I have responsibility
for the conduct of American foreign policy, this will not
happen.
We have worked together for five years, and you must know
that I would never do anything that would jeopardize Israel's
security. I believe that our diplomacy, bolstered by your
wise guidance of Israeli policy, has brought us an important
way along a path that will assure Israel's security and, indeed,
its long-term survival. We are conducting our diplomacy in
circumstances of extreme difficulty, complexity and fluidity.
If it is in your interests and ours, as I believe it is, to
reduce Soviet influence in the Middle Eas , we must have
opportunity to continue to conduct our diplomacy and pursue the
constant objectives you and we share with the flexibility the
tactical situation requires.
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
My major purpose in writing you this personal letter is
to say, as urgently as I can, how tragic it woip.ld be if the
understandable anxieties arising from a particular tactical
situation -- whether it be the Security Council vote or any
other -- were to lead to the conclusion that there had been a
momentous and fundamental change in U.S. policy. There has not
been arid will not be, if it is in our power to prevent it.
But if our present diplomacy fails in the critical
period ahead, it will be beyond our power to prevent a resumptio
of hostilities, a return of diplomatic efforts to un-
manageable international forums, a restoration of Soviet
dominance in the area, and extreme jeopardy to the progress,
that has been so painfully achieved in recent months.
We must not permit preoccupation wit anxa.e f.es of the
moment to obscure the reality that what is at stake is the future
of Israel's place in the Middle East. We both have an
obligation, Madame Prime Minister, to keep that supreme objective
in the center of our thoughts and to work to produce conditions
that will make its achievement possible.
I will want to go into all this in depth with you when we
meet, and cannot urge too strongly that no decisions be taken
meanwhile that would foreclose any of the opportunities which
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
 . No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
AM qw
SECRET/SENSITIVE
lie before us.
Warm personal regards,
Henry A. Kissinger
UNQUOTE
Clearance: S1
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
W
SECRET/SENSITIVE HAKTO
FROM: SECRETARY KISSI
sVfi\r1 'iATC
PLEASE PAS S \/TO DINITZ FOR PRIME MINISTER
v9-C-l.: TC ZLy
QUOTE
Dear Madame Prime Minister:
I am writing to you, not as Secretary-of State but as
a friend, as we approach what can be the most decisive two
weeks in the long search our
two countries have pursued
together for peace in the Middle
I am deeply troubled by the mood
Israel.
Given your
country's
years and the experiences
East.
I am writing because
sense developing in
memories
you have
concerns that are reflected in the
of the past twenty five
recently gone through, the
public mood of Israel
today, as I sense it, are not unnatural. I do not want to
dwell on the recent situation in the Security Council but I
know that our vote has added to your concerns, because of the
importance Israel attaches to the United States position as a
counterweight to unfriendly or indifferent elements in the
Council.
You are aware of the special circumstances under which we
labored in the recent Council deliberations. Even without these,
however, the resolution -- while by no means balanced as we
would have wished -- came closer to balance than any before it
SECRET/SENSITIVE
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
SECRET/SENSITIVE
in recent years. We would not have taken the position we did
if this had not been our honest objective judgment. In
addition, we made several strong unilateral statements
underlining our position in condemnation of the atrocity
at Qiryat Shmona.
It is terribly important, Madame Prime Minister, that
you not let yourself be persuaded, and that you do all in
your power to keep the people of Israel from fearing that the
Security Council vote and other recent developments, which
I know are very much on your mind, mean in any way that
Israel stands alone or will stand alone. So long as I have
responsibility for the conduct of American foreign policy, this
will not happen.
We have worked together for five years, and you must know
`hat I would never do anything that would jeopardize Israel's
security. Ibelieve that our diplomacy, bolstered by your
wise guidance of Israeli policy, has brought us an important
way along a path that will assure Israel's security and, indeed,
its long-term survival. We are conducting our diplomacy in
circumstances of extreme difficulty, complexity and fluidity.
If it is in your interests and ours, as ,I believe it is, to
reduce Soviet influence in the Middle East and to promote
stability, we must have the opportunity to continue to conduct
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
SECRET/SENSITIVE
our diplomacy and pursue the constant objectives you and
we share with the flexibility the tactical situation requires.
Certainly our actions were affected by our need to enlist
moderate Arab support this week - a judgment eminently in /
Israel's interest.
My major purpose In writing you this personal letter is
to say, as urgently as I can, how tragic it would be if the
understandable anxieties arising from a particular tactical
situation -- whether it be the Security Council vote or any
other -- were to lead to the conclusion that there had been a
momentous and fundamental change in U.S. policy. There has not
been and will not be, if it is in our power to prevent it.
But if our present diplomacy fails in the critical
period ahead, it will be beyond our power to prevent a
resumption of hostilities, a return of diplomatic efforts to
unmanageable international forums, a restoration of Soviet
dominance in the area, and extreme jeopardy to the progress
that has been so painfully achieved in recent months. In the face
of certain European and Japanese hostility and a US domestic
opinion influenced by another energy crisis the consequences
would be the gravest since Israeli independence.
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2009/12/04: LOC-HAK-259-4-68-6
SECRET/SENSITIVE
We must'not permit preoccupation with anxieties of
the moment to obscure the reality that what is at stake is the
future of Israel's place in the Middle East. We both have
an obligation, Madame Prime Minister, to keep that supreme
objective in the center of our thoughts and to work to
produce conditions that will make its achievement possible.
I will want to go into all this in depth with you when
we meet, and cannot urge too strongly that no decisions be
taken meanwhile that would foreclose any of the opportunities
which lie before us.
Warm personal regards,
Henry A. Kissinger
UNQUOTE