U.S. and Britain Hold Secret Talks on Palestine; Results Will Affect U.N. Decision

The ultimate solution of the Palestine problem now before the United Nations will depend upon the outcome of secret negotiations being conducted at present between the governments of the United States and Britain, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned today.

Until these negotiations are concluded the U.S. delegation at Lake Success will take no definite stand on the recommendations of the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine to the General Assembly, it was assumed here today among the delegations of the smaller states. The majority of these delegations are not ready to commit themselves on UNSCOP’s recommendations for partition until they get an indication of the attutude of the United States and the Soviet Union.

Circles close to President Truman indicated that there is no ground for a state of alarm on the part of Zionist leaders who fear that they may be “let down” by the U.S. delegation. However, it became known today that when Dr. Abba Hillel Silver and Moshe Shertek conferred with Secretary of State George C. Marshall last week, they left without assurances that the American Government would support Jewish claims for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine as recommended by the UNSCOP majority.

VISHINSKY SAYS SOVIET STANDS BY GROMYKO’S STATEMENT

Andrei Vishinsky, head of the Soviet delegation, today indicated that the attitude of the U.S.S.R. regarding the UNSCOP report will be based on a statement made by Andrei Gromyko at the special session of the Assembly last May. At that time, Gromyko said that the Soviet Government would prefer to see the Palestine question solved through the establishment of an independent bi-national Arab-Jewish state, but, should this prove impossible, the Soviet Union is of the opinion that the Jews are entitled to a state of their own, on the basis of partition.

Appeals to President Truman “not to let the Jews down” at the United Nations were made today by the entire Jewish press. It was pointed out in these editorials that the failure of the United States to make its position clear on the partition proposal is caucing a sense of frustration among many of the delegations at the United Nations and is leading to a belief that America may trade off Jewish hopes in the interests of “American oil barons and Arab feudal lords.”

The line of presentation of the Jewish case before the Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine tomorrow was decided upon last night at a meeting of Zionist and non-Zionfat leaders held at the Jewish Agency offices here. For the first time representatives of the Jewish Labor Committee participated in a session of representatives of major Jewish organizations called by the Jewish Agency to deal with the Palestine issue. Other groups represented at the meeting included the American Jewish Committee, the Agudas Israel, the American Jewish Conference and the World Jewish Congress.