By his Israeli intervention, Ike is more committed than the U.S. perhaps originally intended to a peaceful and prosperous Israel in the Middle East. When the President of the U.S. summons the restive leaders of the Senate to a tough-talking session and then goes on the air to say what the U.S. is prepared to do to see that the Israelis do not have to face the same aggression again from Egypt, this amounts to more than sounding words of sympathy. The personal messages that Ike sent Ben-Gurion mark a further degree of commitment.

All in all, if the Israelis do finally withdraw, that will be a victory for the U.S. and for the U.N. But the U.S. will also have obtained a concession from the Israelis, which in turn implies an obligation on the part of the U.S. Though the tortuous indirections of the statements and documents made public at the U.N. contain no verbal promises, the understanding is nevertheless as clear as it can be in the circumstances. Israelis will henceforth go down to the sea in ships from Elath as in Solomon's day and sail the Gulf of Aqaba with the right of "free and innocent passage," and the maritime nations of the world among them the U.S. have freely conceded their right to do so. For David Ben-Gurion, obviously, this is a victory for which even Gaza may be forgone.

David Ben-Gurion

March 11, 1957