867N.01/3–347: Telegram
The United States Representative at the United Nations (Austin) to the Secretary of State
priority
192. SYG Lie called on me to discuss possible procedures for handling the Palestine question. Lie was concerned at the expense incurred in calling a special session of the GA and indicated that this would also be a heavy burden on the Secretariat. He put forward the following proposal:
That the British should formally request that the SYG appoint a special committee to examine the situation and make recommendations to the GA;
That the SYG would send a circular telegram to all members of the UN asking whether they would consent to the appointment by the SYG of a committee of eight members: UK, USSR, US, France, China, Sweden, Czechoslovakia and Brazil, with authority to go to Palestine to conduct an investigation on the spot, hearing all interested parties, and to report to the GA in September their substantive recommendations for the composition of the problem.
If the majority of the members of the UN indicate by telegram their assent to this proposal, Lie feels he has the authority and would be prepared to appoint such a committee.
Lie indicated that he had discussed this with the British on a tentative basis. They had preferred the Netherlands to Sweden but Lie had rejected this on the grounds that the Netherlands had oil interests.
Lie also indicated he had discussed this with Gromyko1 who seemed personally to favor this suggestion and who was telegraphing for instructions.
I raised the question as to whether Lie was authorized under the Charter and the GA rules to appoint such a committee. Lie felt that his action in postponing the GA last fall was a precedent. No commitment was made and Lie was advised he [I] would inform him as soon as possible of the US reaction to his proposals.
- Andrey Andreyevich Gromyko, Soviet Representative at the United Nations.↩