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Israel's History:
1947
1947:
by Rebecca Russo, 2003 USY Israel Affairs VP
- In Brief
The United Nations issued the U.N. Partition Plan, which divided the area known as Palestine
at the time into three entities: a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone
around Jerusalem.
- February 7th, 1947
The British government announces that it will terminate its mandate for Palestine (as
it was then called) and will refer the problem of the future of Palestine to the United
Nations.
- May 13th, 1947
The United Nations General Assembly appoints an eleven nation Special Committee on
Palestine to study the Palestine problem and report by September 1947.
- August 31st, 1947
The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine issues a report which recommends
unanimously (all 11 member states voting in favor) that Great Britain terminate their
mandate for Palestine and grant it independence at the earliest possible date. The
committee also recommends by majority vote (7 of the member nations voting in favor) that
Palestine be divided into a Jewish state and an Arab state.
- September-October, 1947
Arguments and discussion occur within the United States, in an attempt to decide
whether or not to support the UN's partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states.
- October 11th, 1947
Herschel Johnson, United States deputy representative on the United Nations Security
Council,announces United States support for the partition plan of the United Nations
Special Committee on Palestine.
- October 17th, 1947
President Truman writes to Senator Claude Pepper: "I received about 35,000 pieces of
mail and propaganda from the Jews in this country while this matter [the issue of the
partition of Palestine, which was being considered by the United Nations Special Committee
on Palestine from May 13, 1947 to August 31, 1947] was pending. I put it all in a pile
and struck a match to it - I never looked at a single one of the letters because I felt
the United Nations Committee [United Nations Special Committee on Palestine] was acting
in a judicial capacity and should not be interfered with."
- November 19th, 1947
Chaim Weizmann (who later becomes the first president of the State of Israel) meets with
President Truman and argues that the Negev region has great importance to the future
Jewish state.
- November 29th, 1947
The United Nations General Assembly approves the partition plan for Palestine put
forward by the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. The 1947 UN Partition
divided the area into three entities: a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international
zone around Jerusalem. This is the United Nations official statement of support for a
Jewish state in Israel!
Information from:
Clearly, 1947 was an eventful year in that the UN Partition plan set the stage for
the establishment of the State of Israel, which occured the following year in 1948. Many
questions arise from the events of 1947 - to what degree did U.S. President Truman
support a Jewish state in Israel? What ever happened to the other half of the Partition
Plan, the part that called for an Arab State in Israel? To what degree does the State of
Israel as we know it today resemble the state that was outlined in the 1947 plan? These
are all questions to continue thinking about. However, the most important and monumental
part if 1947 was that we, as a Jewish people, were finally told by the world that a
Jewish state would be established in our holy land - Medinat Yisrael b'Eretz Yisrael!
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