The meeting of the American President, close to victory in the Second World War, and the most important Arab leader of his time was an event of great historical importance.

Ibn Saud met President Roosevelt on board the U.S.S. Quincy in the Great Bitter Lake of the Suez Canal. (President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were returning from their meeting with Stalin at Yalta.)

The meeting was instigated by President Roosevelt who hoped that Ibn Saud might be able to offer constructive advice on the Palestine issue. The President recounted at some length the dreadful oppression the Jews had suffered under the Nazis and explained the determination of the Zionists (whose political influence in the United States was considerable) to find land which would give the Jews security at last.

Ibn Saud's response was soundly reasoned. If the Jews were to be compensated for the outrages perpetrated against them, then it should be the perpetrators who carried the cost. If the United States and its allies wished to see the Jews settled on land of their own, then it should be German land that was appropriated.

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