Prime Minister Levi Eshkol told the Cabinet that while Mr. Johnson’s directive to Mr. Dean Rusk to open negotiations was not binding on the President, he was certain the sale will be consummated. Mr. Eshkol quoted a paragraph of the U.S. Foreign Aid Bill which was cited in Mr. Johnson’s directive. He said it was safe to assume that Mr. Johnson referred to this section in order to stress wide public support for the sale of the jets to Israel. Mr. Eshkol said that he got the impression, when he met Mr. Johnson at the latter’s ranch in Texas last January, that the President’s reply to Israel’s request for 50 F-4 Phantom jets would be favorable.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
