Final_Judgment

[54] Final Judgment 115
"If the Administration did not function, the voters would throw it out.
Kennedy asked Congress not to make it impossible to function by means of
`legislative restraints and inadequate appropriations.'
"These words," Kenan notes, "were uttered at his last White House
press conference." 132
On many fronts, indeed, JFK's Middle East policy was angering the
Israelis, including—perhaps especially—JFK's determination to solve the
problem of the Palestinian refugees.
JFK'S 'GOOD FAITH' IN DOUBT
On November 20, 1963, Kennedy's delegation at the United Nations
called for continuing movement toward the implementation of the 1948 UN
resolution which called for the right of displaced Palestinian Arabs to return
to their homes (in Israel) and for those who chose not to return to their
homes to be compensated.
The London Jewish Chronicle reported the reaction of the Israelis:
"Prime Minister Levi Eshkol summoned the U.S. ambassador . . . and told
him that Israel was 'shocked' by the pro-Arab attitude adopted by the U.S.
delegation." Golda Meir, the Chronicle reported, "expressed Israel's
`astonishment and anger' at the attitude of the U.S." 133
For its own part, the Chronicle noted editorially, "Israel, which has
neither been consulted nor informed about the American intention, is not
surprisingly questioning the good faith of the United States." 134
It is not likely that JFK ever got to read the defamatory comments
about his Middle East policy published by the London Jewish Chronicle.
They were printed on November 22, 1963.
So it was that even as John F. Kennedy was preparing to leave
Washington for his final journey as president, he was plagued with the
problem of Israel and its powerful influence in Washington.
As it turned out, it was during Kennedy's trip to Dallas that one last
memorandum was prepared on his behalf relating to the touchy issue of
global nuclear arms development.
Although JFK had forcefully opposed French production of nuclear
weapons—much as he opposed that of Israel—the American president had,
however, begun taking a new look at his stance vis-à-vis the French.
Thus it was that while John F. Kennedy was triumphantly touring
downtown Dallas, there was being prepared a "Top Secret, Eyes Only"
memorandum from JFK's advisor, McGeorge Bundy, outlining the new,
perhaps more lenient, Kennedy policy toward France, which, as we have
seen, had itself played a major role in Israel's nuclear development and,
unwittingly (much to the disgust of French President DeGaulle) in the drive
for atomic weaponry. The memorandum regarding the new policy toward
France was also dated November 22, 1963. 135
By this time, however, John F. Kennedy's fate was sealed. He had
pushed Israel and its leaders to the brink.