A plan to implement truce in Palestine by a United Nations Commission which would be sent there for this purpose was presented today to the meeting of the U.N. Security Council held at the offices of the American delegation. No details of the plan, however, were released to the press.
Soviet delegate Andrei Gromyko was present today for the first time at the informal consultations on Palestine which have been conducted by members of the Security Council for the past two weeks. He indicated that his interest was confined strictly to the question of a Palestine truce and that he is still abstaining from participating in any discussions on the American trusteeship proposal for Palestine.
No final decision on the truce plan was taken at today’s meeting, since U.S. delegate Warren A. Austin made it plain that any tentative cease-fire agreement reached at the conference would be subject to final approval in Washington insofar as the American delegation was concerned. Concrete suggestions were put forward by General McNaughton of Canada and by several other delegates.
Further consultations with Jewish and Arab representatives on securing a Palestine truce are contemplated, Dr. Alfonso Lopez, president of the Security Council, told representatives of the press. Another informal meeting of members of the Council will be held to draw up a formal resolution on the truce plan for action by the Council, he revealed.
FURTHER DISCUSSION ON U.S. TRUSTEESHIP PLAN SUSPENDED
Meanwhile, further discussion on the American trusteeship plan was suspended pending the final outcome of the truce discussions. At today’s meeting, Senator Austin called upon the British Government to assume responsibility for the protection of the Holy Places in Jerusalem. However, the fate of these sites after May 15 was left undetermined.
The British Government today named Colonial Secretary Arthur Creech-Jones as the head of its delegation to the special U.N. General Assembly on Palestine which opens Friday at Flushing Meadows. Most of the 57 member states of the U.K. will be represented at the meeting by their permanent delegations at Lake Success.
The U.N. Palestine Commission, after having completed and unanimously approved the final draft of its 56-page report for the special General Assembly meeting, will meet tomorrow to hear representatives of the Agudas Israel World Organization state their views on the establishment of the Provisional Council of Government of the Jewish state.
The Agudas Israel and the Ichud Party are the only two Palestine Jewish groups which asked for separate consultations with the Commission. All other Jewish organizations had stated previously they desired to be represented by the Jewish Agency.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
