Editorial Note
In the files of the Department of State, under 501.BB Palestine/12—1747, is a carbon copy of a report dated December 17, 1947, whose purpose it was “To assess and appraise the position of the U.S. with respect to Palestine, taking into consideration the security interests of the U.S. in the Mediterranean and Near East areas and in the light of the decision of the General Assembly of the United Nations regarding the partition of Palestine.” The paper gives no indication of authorship, but it seems to be the initial draft called for in the editorial note, page 1283, and a forerunner of Policy Planning Staff Report 19 of January 19, 1948. It is anticipated that the latter report will be printed in a forthcoming volume of Foreign Relations.
[Page 1314]The report of December 17, 1947, made two alternative recommendations, as follows: “25. The United States should immediately announce that we have become convinced that the partition of Palestine is impossible of implementation and that the Palestine problem should therefore be referred back to a special session of the General Assembly to meet in a neutral country such as Switzerland. At this session we should propose that a ‘middle-of-the-road’ solution be attempted for which we would endeavor to obtain support from the Arab and Jewish communities of Palestine. If this proved impossible, we should propose a UN trusteeship for Palestine, pending agreement by the Arab and Jewish communities.
“Meanwhile, we should take the lead in asking the British to remain in Palestine, with the right to request whatever assistance they might require from other members of the UN. In these circumstances the UN should be asked to defray the costs of continued occupation by the British.
“OR
“26. The US should take the position that, in view of the manifest impossibility of implementing the partition of Palestine, no steps should be taken to that end. We should oppose sending UN troops to Palestine to enforce partition. We should maintain and enforce our embargo on arms to Palestine and neighboring countries.”