On the 75th anniversary of the decision of the United Nations Assembly in 1947 on the 29th of November to establish two states - Jewish and Palestinian Arab - on the territory of the Land of Israel, it is appropriate to examine the act and its consequences.
The decision of the General Assembly of the United Nations was one of the outstanding acts of the organization throughout its existence.
The involvement of the UN in the conflict was problematic in any case, because the ability to enforce its decisions depended, of course, not only on its ability to produce a real "majority" in the General Assembly but also on the exact composition of the "majority".
Unlike in the Security Council, no country had the right of veto in the organization's plenary, so apparently there was doubt as to the extent of the organization's ability to implement decisions.
In particular, there was doubt about the United States' vote: American Secretary of State George Marshall, one of the heroes of World War II, did not believe that the Jewish settlement in Palestine would be able to survive against a coordinated attack by the neighbors of the new state that was just supposed to be established.
He favored postponing the decision for a period of time, and possibly establishing an "international trust" administration for an interim period.
State proclamation status, photo: Zolsen Kloner/L.A.M
This thought was rejected by Great Britain, which held power over the Land of Israel by virtue of a "mandate" from the League of Nations, which preceded the United Nations Organization founded at the end of World War II in 1946. After a UN inspection committee recommended the establishment of the two states, the road to London quickly got rid of from the burden of British rule.
The independence of the Jewish people
It should be emphasized that the decision of the UN Assembly surprised many in many aspects. Britain's abstention was understandable, but the support of Soviet Russia, the "Soviet Union", was very surprising. The Iron Curtain had already fallen over Eastern Europe, and Soviet Jewry was cut off from the free world. The public experienced severe pressure On the part of Stalin, the leader, and a large number of scientists and intellectuals of the Jewish people were murdered in this dark period. Russia supported the decision to establish Israel, and not only that - it mobilized to assist it massively in the campaign that would be remembered as the Jewish People's War of Independence. The weapons provided included small arms and ammunition In abundance, heavier equipment and also fighter planes, although not a large number, but a real amount.
The United Nations Assembly on the day of the establishment of the State of Israel,
Czechoslovakia became the intermediary state on the part of the Soviet bloc.
The attitude of the United States was the opposite - it imposed an embargo, a "full embargo", on the export of American weapons to Israel.
A number of Jews who were arrested for their activities were sentenced to prison terms.
Despite this behavior of the United States government, the founding Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, was absent from Israel on the country's third Independence Day because he went to Washington for meetings with the President of the United States, General Dwight Eisenhower, in order to declare to him that in the world struggle between the Soviet bloc and the Western bloc led by the United States The alliance, Israel stands by the leader of democracy in the world.
On that occasion, Ben-Gurion met with the head of the United States Intelligence Agency, General Walter Biddle Smith, and established a relationship that later became of great importance to Israel from that day to this day.
Moshe Sharet and father raise the Israeli flag in New York on the day of the declaration of the state,
This turn in policy became clear to the Russian leader, Stalin, he changed his country's policy towards Israel and for 30 years and several years after the Yom Kippur War in 1973 the Russians tried - and in some cases succeeded - to recruit or infiltrate agents in important positions into Israel.
Furthermore, Russia severed its relations with Israel in the midst of the Six Day War in 1967. These relations were only renewed 30 years later.
Many were surprised by the decision
Returning, therefore, to the 29th of November of that time, and while reviewing some of the upheavals I mentioned, it is important to remember that there is no guaranteed stability in the world of international relations, and enemies and friends may even change in the blink of an eye.
Of all the explosive issues on our busy agenda, it should be remembered that the November 29th Resolution established division boundaries between the two countries - Israel and the one that is supposed to stand alongside it. It also determined that Jerusalem and Bethlehem would be separated into a separate region with an independent international status. To this day, both Russia and the United States are committed The alliance for some formula that would give Israel and the Palestinians a status in Jerusalem. Neither President Biden nor President Putin has backed away from this to this very day. It is good that the new government that will be formed should take this fact into consideration.
The decision of the United Nations Assembly surprised many in many aspects. Britain's abstention was understandable, but the support of the Soviet Union in the decision to establish Israel was very surprising. Not only that, it mobilized to massively assist it in the campaign that would be remembered as the Jewish People's War of Independence.
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