The Soviet Union announced today a complete reversal of its long-held position in favor of internationalizing Jerusalem. Jacob Malik, permanent U.N. representative of the U.S.S.R., in a letter to Secretary-General Trygve Lie said:
“It has now become clear that the General Assembly’s resolution of December, 1949, establishing a permanent regime for Jerusalem does not satisfy the Arab or Jewish populations of either Jerusalem or Palestine as a whole. In these circumstances the Government of the U.S.S.R. does not consider it possible to continue its support of the above-mentioned resolution. At the same time the Soviet Government feels certain that the United Nations will succeed in finding a solution of the Jerusalem problem acceptable to both the Arab and the Jewish sections of the population of that city.”
(A spokesman for the delegation of Israel later made the following statement: “We are pleased that the Soviet delegation will support a plan that is based on the consent of the people of Jerusalem. Israel is working actively to facilitate a solution based on that principle.”)
Because of the Chinese issue, the Soviet Union did not attend the recent U.N. Trusteeship Council session in Geneva which drow up a statute for internationalization of Jerusalem. It has been assumed that the Soviet Union would not recognize that statute. However, the Soviet delegation statement today represents a fundamental reversal of its position on the whole Jerusalem question.
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