U.S. to Present Interim Statement on Palestine; Compromise Offer Seen As Possible

The United States position on the British resolution to force the Bernadette plan upon Israel as a final solution of the Palestine problem will be presented to the U.N. Political Committee either tomorrow or Monday, it was learned here today. An interim statement has already been prepared.

Because most of the delegations here were waiting for the U.S. to present its views, the U.N. Secretariat last night cancelled today’s session and called the next one for Monday. Meanwhile, the American delegation has informed the Secretariat that it is prepared to speak tomorrow. In asking for advancement of the session, the U.S. was joined by Britain.

A member of the U.S. delegation today indicated at a press conference that U.S. delegate Phillip C. Jessup will underline the declaration by President Truman of last October 24 which stated that the Bernadotte report should be treated as a basis for negotiations only, but that no changes in the Israeli frontiers should be made without the consent of the Jewish state. The American indicated that the U.S. attitude would be to accord to Israel “no more and no less” territorially than provided under the partition decision of last November 29.

The U.S. position was seen to be shaping in the direction of a compromise over the Negev in return for compensation in Galilee. The delegation member indicated that the Jessup address will also emphasize that since Israel, as well as Britain on the basis of the Bernadotte proposals, now also certain frontier changes, all these requests should be considered together. The United States proposals, however, will not be made in full until after a conference between President Truman and Secretary George C. Marshall, now scheduled for Monday.

BRITISH PREDICT ARABS WILL NOT RESIST BERNADOTTE PLAN

Official British quarters today prophesied that the Arab states would not take up arms against any settlement of the Palestine problem based on the Bernadotte report, although the Arabs are not prepared to accept it formally. Declaring that the United Nations is in no position to use military force to implement such a settlement, a British source openly admitted for the first time that Britain is counting on the truce to inhibit the resistance of both the Arabs and the Jews.

If either party refused to acquiesce, the British intend to press for punitive sanctions by the United Nations Security Council. Thus, the fears and suspicions of recent days over the motive underlying the British delegation’s attempt to generate an atmosphere of urgency hostile to Israel, in connection with the Negev and Galilee situations, has been confirmed by an important member of that delegation.

He declared that the November 4 resolution of the Security Council, ordering the Israel forces to withdraw from the Negev, and the British resolution introduced yesterday before the Political Committee — asking for a settlement based strictly on the Bernadette proposals — are closely linked; and that the prospective attitude of both sides would be clarified after an analysis of the disputants’ replies to the withdrawal ultimatum issued by Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, U.N. acting mediator. (For Israeli reply, submitted last night, see Page 3.)

The October 14 withdrawal line is almost identical with the Bernadotte proposals. The British delegation is understood to be intensely dissatisfied with Dr. Bunche’s ruling that the Israeli reply constitutes compliance. The acting mediator, however, told correspondents that he was pleased at the outcome and that Brig. Gen. William E. Riley, chief of staff of the U.N. truce machinery, had been instructed to undertake armistice negotiations on the spot with Col. Yigal Yadin, Israeli Army Chief of Operations, and Reuven Shilcah, of the Israeli Foreign Ministry.