 Despite all the tension in American-Egyptian relations, Rusk still argued that it was better to keep the PL 480 food sales to Egypt going than to end them, maintaining keeping the Arab-Israeli dispute "in the icebox" as Nasser phrased it depended upon the United States having leverage over Egypt.In August 1963, a series of misunderstandings rocked the Kennedy administration when in reaction to the Buddhist crisis a policy proposal urging the overthrow of President Diem of South Vietnam was presented to Kennedy who stated he would consider adopting it if Rusk gave his approval first.Rusk who had gone to New York to attend a session of the United Nations cautiously gave approval out of the impression that Kennedy had approved it first.