Final_Judgment

102 Genesis [41]
The President's brother, Robert Kennedy, himself said that his brother
admired Feldman's work, but added, "His major interest was Israel rather
than the United States." 83
However, while Myer Feldman was busy promoting Israel's interests at
the White House, the president was sending out a message to the rest of the
foreign policy-making establishment in Washington.
Kennedy was making it clear that he was very much interested in
finding a path to peace in the Middle East and was, in particular, looking for
ways to solve the problem of finding a home for the Palestinian refugees
who had been displaced by Israel in 1948.
KENNEDY'S GOOD INTENTIONS
According to Hersh, "State Department Arabists were pleasantly
surprised early in 1961 to get word from the White House, according to [one
source], that 'just because 90 percent of the Jewish vote had gone for
Kennedy, it didn't mean he was in their pocket.'" 84
Former high-ranking U.S. diplomat Richard H. Curtiss, writing in A
Changing Image: American Perceptions of the Arab-Israeli Dispute,
elaborated on Kennedy's attitude toward the Middle East controversy. In a
chapter appropriately titled: "President Kennedy and Good Intentions
Deferred Too Long," Curtiss comments:
"It is surprising to realize, with the benefit of hindsight, that from the time
Kennedy entered office as the narrowly-elected candidate of a party heavily
dependent upon Jewish support, he was planning to take a whole new look
at U.S. Mideast policy.
"He obviously could not turn the clock back and undo the work of
President Truman, his Democratic predecessor, in making the establishment
of Israel possible. Nor, perhaps, would he have wanted to.
"Kennedy was determined, however, to develop good new personal
relationships with individual Arab leaders, including those with whom the
previous administration's relations had deteriorated.
"As a result, various leaders of newly independent countries were
surprised to find their pro forma messages of congratulations upon
Kennedy's assumption of office answered with personalized letters from the
young American President." 85
OLIVE BRANCH TO NASSER
The key Arab leader at the time was Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, the
voice of Pan-Arabism. Kennedy was especially intrigued with the
possibility of opening up relations with Nasser.
According to Kennedy associate, Theodore Sorensen, "Nasser liked
Kennedy's Ambassador, John Badeau, and he liked Kennedy's practice of
personal correspondence. Kennedy put off, however, an invitation for a
Nasser visit until improved relations could enable him to answer the