867n.01/1382: Telegram
The Consul at Geneva (Bucknell) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 17—7:40 p.m.]
9. The British representative made a statement on Palestine before the Council this evening.18 He said that after examination of the last Royal Commission’s report the British Government had decided that the partition scheme was impractical. He announced that discussions in London with the Jewish and Arab representatives would begin during the present month and that he expected the discussions to result in an agreement. If however an agreement was not rapidly reached the British Government would itself take a decision on the policy to be adopted. He considered it would be useful for the Council to have without delay the advice of the Permanent Mandates Commission on any proposals the British Government might be ready to make on the termination of the conference and consequently requested authorization for an extraordinary session of the Mandates Commission before the May session of the Council in order to examine those proposals. The Council agreed.
English text by mail to London, Paris and Berlin.
- See League of Nations, Official Journal, February 1939, p. 80.↩