Independent Jewish and Arab states will be established in Palestine as of October 1, 1948, under a unanimous decision reached today by the four-nation working group on implementation of partition.
The group, which completed its work this afternoon, decided that the states were to become independent two months after the evacuation of the last British troops, taking official note of the British statement last week that the withdrawal of its military forces would be completed by August 1.
The working group’s decisions, which mark the first agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union on any of the basic problems facing the Assembly, include the following recommendations:
1. The Palestine Mandate is to be terminated on a date agreed upon between the Mandatory and the U.N. Implementation Commission and approved by the Security Council. However, this date may not be later than Aug. 1.
2. Measures taken by the Implementation Commission become immediately effective if they are within the terms of the recommendations of the Assembly, unless the Security Council issues instructions to the contrary previously.
3. The Implementation Commission shall render monthly reports to the Security Council or more often if necessary. The final report of the Commission should be made to the next session of the General Assembly.
4. The activities of both the Arab and Jewish Provisional Councils of Government shall be carried out under the general direction of the U.N. Commission. If by April 1, 1948 the Provisional Councils of Government cannot be selected for the two states, or, if selected, cannot carry out their functions, the Commission shall communicate that fact to the Security Council for such action as the Council may deem proper and to the Secretary General of the U.N. for communication to U.N. members.
5. The U.N. Commission shall appoint a preparatory economic commission of three members to make whatever arrangements are possible for economic cooperation between the two states, with a view to establishing as soon as possible the Economic Union and a Joint Economic Board.
6. The Provisional Council of Government of each state, not later than two months after the withdrawal of British forces, but in any case before October 1, 1948, shall hold elections for Constituent Assemblies which shall be conducted along democratic lines. Election regulations in each state shall be drawn up by the Provisional Council of Governments and approved by the Commission.
7. Qualified voters of each state for this election shall be over 18 years who are: (a) Palestinian citizens residing in that state and (b) Arabs and Jews residing in the state although not Palestinian citizens, who before voting have signed notice of intentions to become citizens of such state.
8. The Arabs and Jews residing in Jerusalem who have signed notices of intention to become citizens–Arabs of the Arab state and Jews of the Jewish state–shall be entitled to vote in Arab and Jewish states respectively. Women may vote and may be elected to Constituent Assemblies.
9. During the transition period no Jews shall be permitted to establish residence in the area of the proposed Arabs state and no Arabs shall be permitted to establish residence in the area of the proposed Jewish state except by special leave of the Commission.
10. The Constituent Assembly of each state shall draft a democratic constitution for each state and the provisional governments which will succeed the Provisional Councils of Government, which are to be appointed by the U.N. Commission. The constitutions of the states shall embody, inter alia, provisions for:
a. Establishing in each state of a legislative body elected by universal suffrage and by secret ballot on the basis of proportional representation and an executive body responsible to the legislature.
b. Settling all International disputes in which a state may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered.
c. Accepting obligations of the state to refrain in its international relations from threats of the use of force against the territorial integrity or the political independence of any state.
d. Guaranteeing to all persons equal and non-discriminatory rights in civil, political, economic and religious matters.
COMMISSION WILL SUPERVISE TRANSITION BETWEEN ASSEMBLY ACTION AND STATEHOOD
Other important recommendations of the working group include the following:
The U.N. Commission shall be appointed by the General Assembly, and shall consist of five members representing small powers. The administration of Palestine during the transitional period between the adoption of the recommendations by the General Assembly and the proclamation of independence by the Jewish and Arab states shall be entrusted to the Commission, which shall act in conformity with the recommendations of the Assembly under the guidance of the Security Council.
The Mandatory Power shall not issue any regulations to prevent, obstruct or delay the implementation by the Commission of the measures recommended by the Assembly. The Commission shall have authority to issue regulations and take other measures as required for the discharge of its administrative responsibility.
With a view to insuring that there shall be continuity in the administrative services, there shall be a progressive transfer by the Mandatory to the Provisional Councils of Government and the Joint Economic Board of responsibility for all the functions of the government including that of maintaining law and order in the areas from which the forces of the Mandatory have withdrawn.
U.N. GROUP WILL ESTABLISH FRONTIERS UPON ARRIVAL IN PALESTINE
On its arrival in Palestine, the Commission shall proceed to carry out measures for the establishment of frontiers of the Arab and Jewish states and the city of
The Commission shall select and establish the Provisional Councils of Government in each state after consultation with the democratic parties and public organizations of the Arab and Jewish states.
COUNCILS GIVEN AUTHORITY OVER MILITIA, IMMIGRATION, LAND SALES
The Provisional Councils of each state shall within the shortest time possible recruit an armed militia from the residents of that state, sufficient in number to maintain internal order and prevent frontier clashes. This armed militia shall, for operational purposes, be under the command of Jewish and Arab officers resident in that state, but the general political and military control including the choice of the militia’s high command shall be exercised by the U.N. Commission.
Subject to the provisions of this recommendation, during the transitional period, the Provisional Councils, acting under the Commission, shall have full authority in the areas under their control including the authority over matters of immigration and land regulations.
The Provisional Councils of Government acting under the Commission and the Joint Economic Board shall have full responsibility for the administration of Palestine in the period, if any, between termination of the Mandate and the establishment of the two independent states. The Commission shall be guided in its activities by the recommendations of the General Assembly and by such instructions as the Security Council may consider necessary to issue.
BRITAIN MUST MAINTAIN ORDER BEFORE TERMINATION OF MANDATE
During the period between the adoption of the recommendations on the question of Palestine by the Assembly and the termination of the Mandate, the Mandatory Power in Palestine shall maintain order and direct the main public services, to the extent that these have not yet been placed fully or partly under the direction of the Commission and the Provisional Councils and the Joint Economic Board. The Commission shall assist the Mandatory in the carrying out of this function. Similarly, the Mandatory shall cooperate with the Commission in the execution of this function.
Local governments are to be established by the Provisional Councils following their formation and under the supervision of the U.N. Commission.
The implementation group also decided to recommend freedom of transit and visit to all residents and citizens of the other Palestinian state subject to considerations of national security, provided that each state shall control residents within its border.
JEWISH AGENCY AGREES TO SURRENDER 2,300,000 DUNAMS IN NEGEV
Under pressure from the American delegation at the United Nations to surrender to the proposed Arab state more land set aside in the UNSCOP report for the Jewish nation, Moshe Shertok, Jewish Agency spokesman earlier today told the sub-committee on partition that the Agency will cede some 2,000,000 dunams (500,000 acres) of land in the Negev along the Egyptian border and another 300,000 dunams in the Beersheba district.
Shertok, however, was adamant on one point–the Agency will not agree to give up the Aqaba Gulf strip of the Negev, which the U.S. delegation last week was eager to see included in the Arab state. Shertok recalled that American delegate Herschel Johnson, at a previous session of the partition sub-committee, said that the U.S. would agree to leave the Aqaba area in the Jewish state providing that the Agency agrees to surrender land in the Beersheba district of the Negev.
U.S. STILL HOPES TO WIN BRITISH SUPPORT BY GRANTING AQABA TO ARABS
Following Shertok’s proposal, Maj. Gen. John II. Hilldring declared that although he was heartened by the willingness of the Jews to compromise, he must consult with the State Department as to whether the latest proposition is acceptable. Hilldring emphasized that he reserved the right to make a final statement regarding the Aqaba area.
The insistence of the American delegation on removing the Aqaba area from the Jewish state was attributed by delegates here to the fact that the delegation is still hoping to win British support for partition. It is known that the British, although officially abstaining from taking an active part in the discussions on Palestine at the U.N., are making quiet but persistent efforts to influence Washington to fight for inclusion of the Aqaba area in the Arab state because of its strategic importance. The British would like to see this area under Arab control since it is the mouth of the Red Sea and has potentialities for oil and uranium.
The partition sub-committee adopted a proposal by the Agency regarding the disposal of Palestine Government assets. The proposal provides that during the period between the appointment of a U.N. Implementation Commission and the termination of the Mandate, the Mandatory must negotiate with the Commission on any contemplated measure involving the liquidation of Palestine assets, including treasury surplus, proceeds from government bonds and state lands.
A request that the Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine have its recommendations to the General Assembly ready by Thursday evening, has been made by Assembly Chairman Dr. Oswaldo Aranha, it was officially announced. In making this announcement, Dr. Herbert V. Evatt, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, demanded that the partition subcommittee speed up its work and submit its report in advance of this deadline. Members of the sub-committee, however, emphasized that this would be impossible since the working groups, particularly the implementation group, are not yet ready to make their recommendations.
At today’s session of the sub-committee the Uruguayan delegate Dr. Jose Garcia Granados demanded action on his resolution to admit 30,000 Jewish children into Palestine immediately. The body instructed its chairman, Keawory Pruszynski, to ask the implementation working group to include the Uruguayan proposal in its report, together with other immigration recommendations.
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.
