White House Links U.S. Aid to Israel Desalination with Arab Refugee Issue

The White House has linked any agreement to assist Israel in construction of a prototype desalination plant “with some corresponding gesture to friendly Arab nations, hopefully to alleviate the refugee problem which is causing instabilities in the Middle East,” it was disclosed today.

The disclosure came in a White House letter written on behalf of President Nixon by William E. Timmons, deputy assistant to the President. It was dated Sept. 13 and sent to Rep. William F. Ryan, New York Democrat, who had inquired about the current status of the United States commitment to assist Israel with desalination activities. A budgetary provision submitted by the prior Johnson Administration for Israeli desalination was eliminated by the Nixon Administration. Attempts are being made in Congress to restore an appropriation to implement the commitment that was first voiced by President Johnson in 1964.

While raising a number of questions about the proposed desalination project, including the Arab refugee question, Mr. Timmons said he was “confident that, during the next few weeks, (presumably during the visit of Israeli Premier Golda Meir) we can develop a proposal which will be optimum to the United States as well as to Israel, either similar to the original proposal or an improvement thereupon. The President is mindful of the fact that joint studies of desalination plants have been carried out by the United States and Israel since 1964, and that both parties have contributed considerable sums of money. Please rest assured that our response will take this past history into account.”

Mr. Timmons stated that the desalination issue had been “under intensive study by the several government departments which are involved in or affected by administration decision.” The White House official revealed that “some of the considerations involved in this study had been: does the proposal made by the Johnson Administration still represent an optimum insofar as the research and development plans of the Department of the Interior are concerned; how is it effected by what we have learned about desalination during the past year? From the Israeli point of view, will the proposed desalination plant be able to furnish water at a low enough cost so as not to constitute a drain on the Israeli economy; would it be preferable to view our possible involvement with Israel as a water research project to which both parties contribute and from which both parties will eventually benefit? Further, how can we accompany any agreement with Israel with some corresponding gesture to friendly Arab nations, hopefully to alleviate the refugee problem which is causing instabilities in the Middle East?”

Rep. Ryan stated that he did not see the relevance of linking the “long-time commitment on desalination to the issue of Arab refugees.” He added that he had been trying to get a clarification of the Nixon Administration’s view of the commitment for several months and that he did not regard the White House letter as an adequate answer. Rep. Ryan also said desalination planning was vital to Israel and that “the administration should clarify its position before or during the forthcoming visit of Premier Meir.”