Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower meet for more than two hours at the White House.
“This was the first opportunity I have had of seeing President Eisenhower since I last saw him in Frankfurt in 1945 immediately after the liberation of Europe. I was able to express to him the gratitude which is felt towards President Eisenhower in my country by those whom the armies under his command liberated 15 years ago from the jaws of death,” Ben-Gurion says in a prepared statement after the meeting.
“We had private and informal talks, and I was very interested to learn from the president of his recent visits in various countries and of his impressions. Our talks touched on many world problems, and, of course, we discussed United States-Israel relations in their broad scope.”
Ben-Gurion avoids questions about the Suez Canal, arms sales and the possibility of a meeting with German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer while both are in America.
The prime minister presents the president a photo album showing the journey of Holocaust survivors to become free Israeli citizens.
During the meeting, members of the American Nazi Party with swastika armbands and a group of Arabs protest outside the White House, spreading anti-Israel and anti-Jewish messages. Police and the Secret Service disperse the crowd.