80,000 Haganah Members Alerted to Guard Jewish Settlements As U.N. Decision is Awaited

An estimated 80,000 members of the Haganah ##re today alerted for the defense of isolated Jewish settlements in Palestine as ##he 650,000 Jews of the country waited tensely for a final decision from Flushing ##adow where the members of the U.N. General Assembly entered the last stages of the ?artition debate.

At the Wailing Wall large crowds of Jews gathered to pray for Divine inter##ession for a two-thirds vote in favor of partition at the U.N. Chief Rabbi Isaac ##orzog, who together with Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ben Zion Usiel had issued a call to he Jews to assemble at the Wailing Wall, led a special prayer which he had written ##or the occasion.Synagogues were crowded throughout the day. The atmosphere of excitement and suspense which has reigned throughout the Jewish community for the past few days ##vaded even the houses of worship this evening. In the streets many persons could ## seen buying quantities of blue-and-white cloth, preparing flags and bunting deco##ations to celebrate the anticipated event. The Palestine Broadcasting System had made special arrangements to broadcast a decision as late as 11 p.m. local time in English, Hebrew and Arabic.It was learned from an official source that an additional 100 policemen have been brought into Jerusalem from outlying districts as a security detachment to be ##ushed to duty immediately after a U.N. decision is announced.

The Arab press published a message from the ex-Mufti of Jerusalem calling on Palestine’s Arabs to rally to the “holy task” of defending “their homeland, digni?y, people and money.” Informed Arab sources insist that Palestine Arab leaders have been instructed to travel to Lebanon, where the Palestine Arab Higher Committee has established a new headquarters and where the ex-Mufti resides at present, as soon as the U.N.’s decision is learned.