Visibly embarrassed by the statement on Israel which President Truman issued last night in Washington, (see page 2) the American delegation here maintained silence today, countering all questions about a possible revision of the Marshall policy of support for the Bernadotte plan with a tight lipped “no comment.” John Foster Dulles, while distributing copies of Gov. Thomas E. Dewey’s letter to the American Christian Palestine Committee in New York, refused to expand or explain Dewey’s position in support of the Republican Party’s platform on Israel.
Meanwhile, a leading member of the Israeli delegation outlined the following four-point program of positive action which this General Assembly could take to settle the Palestine question:
1. Admission of the Jewish state to U.N. membership, which would imply United Nations recognition of it.
2. Recommendation by the Assembly that the Arab armies be withdrawn from Palestine and that a peace conference be held between the Jews and the Arabs.
3. Direct Anglo-Jewish negotiations to follow for the settling of outstanding questions by mutual agreement.
4. Appointment by the United Nations of a conciliation committee modelled on the Good Offices Committee at work in Indonesia to help the parties negotiate an agreement. The spokesmen served notice that such a commission would not be permitted to interfere in the internal affairs of Israel.
It was learned today that Israel’s application for U.N. membership will be presented shortly, certainly before the termination of the assembly session. It has been indicated in top level British delegation sources that the United Kingdom is not planning to veto the Israeli application in the Security Council. The present prospect is that the British and Chinese will both abstain when the question arises.
The Statements by Truman and Dewey reaffirming their party platform planks in support of the Jewish state “show clearly that the American people is opposed to plans prejudicing the political and territorial integrity of Israel,” a spokesman for the Israeli delegation here declared today.
The Democratic Party’s plank, reiterated yesterday by Truman, that modifications of the boundaries of Israel as set by the U.N. partition decision should not be made unless they are fully satisfactory to the Jewish state, cannot be squared with attempts to adopt Bernadotte’s suggestions to deprive Israel of 60 percent of its territory, the spokesman said. He pointed out that the Bernadotte proposals do not have the acquiescence of Israel.
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.
