Office of the Historian

501.BB Palestine/11–648: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Acting Secretary of State

secret
niact
Paris, November 6, 1948—6:50 p. m.

Delga 634. Verbatim text Palestine resolution drafted by Bunche for possible use in SC follows:

“The SC

“Having decided on 15 July, 1948 that subject to further decision by the SC or the GA, the truce in Palestine shall remain in force in accordance with the resolution of that date and with that of 29 May, 1948, until a peaceful adjustment of the future situation of Palestine is reached;

“Recognizing that in the nature of the case the truce, though of indeterminate duration, must be considered as a first stage in the effort to restore peace to Palestine, and that the transition from truce to the termination of the war is an indispensable condition to an ultimate peaceful settlement of the basic political issues;

“Having in mind the conditions which thus far have obstructed all [Page 1556] efforts to induce the parties to settle their differences by voluntary negotiation;

“Desirous of facilitating the transition from truce to permanent peace in Palestine at the earliest possible date; and

“Taking into account the resolution of 15 July, 1948 which determined that the situation in Palestine constitutes a threat to the peace within the meaning of Article 39 of the Charter;

“Calls upon the parties directly involved in the conflict in Palestine, in order to eliminate this threat to the peace, to undertake immediately to enter into negotiations, either directly or through the acting United Nations mediator on Palestine, with a view to,

  • “a. The settlement of all outstanding problems of the truce in all sectors of Palestine;
  • b. The attainment of an armistice involving either withdrawal and demobilization of armed forces engaged in the Palestine conflict or their wide separation by creation of broad demilitarized zones under UN supervision; and

“Requests the parties and the acting UN mediator on Palestine to submit to this council frequent reports on the progress of the negotiations.”1

Repeated London as 1205.

Marshall

  1. The United States Delegation, on November 6, recommended supporting and voting for the Bunche draft resolution (telegram Delga 682 from Paris, 501.BB Palestine/11–648). The Department, the following day, authorized United States support for the Bunche draft hut directed the Delegation not to introduce and not to cosponsor the measure. These directives were “cleared [with] Key West”, (Telegram Gadel 420 to Paris, 501.BB Palestine/11–748).

    Mr. Bunche submitted a revised draft of his proposed resolution to the Security Council on November 9; for text, see SC 3rd yr., No. 124, p. 62. The following day, the Soviet Representative submitted amendments whose major proposal was “The establishment of a formal peace involving such ultimate withdrawal and reduction, of these forces as will ensure the restoration of Palestine to peacetime conditions.” (Ibid., p. 64)

    ↩