Editorial Note
The General Assembly, on May 11, considered the proposal to admit Israel to membership in the United Nations. Senator Austin noted that the Ad Hoc Political Committee of the Assembly had recommended [Page 996] the proposal by a large majority and that the United States was cosponsor of the draft resolution to effect the admission. The text of his statement is printed in the Department of State Bulletin, May 22, 1949, page 655.
The Assembly voted 37 to 12 in favor of the draft resolution. There were 9 abstentions, including the United Kingdom and Turkey. The United States, the Soviet Union, and France were among those voting affirmatively. The President of the Assembly thereupon declared that Israel had been admitted to the United Nations. The Assembly’s proceedings on May 11 are printed in United Nations, Official Records of the Third Session of the General Assembly, Part II (hereinafter cited as GA (III)), Plenary Meetings, pages 330, 331. The text of resolution 273 (III) of May 11 appears in GA (III), Resolutions, 5 April–18 May 1949, page 18.
Hassouna Pasha, Under Secretary of the Egyptian Foreign Office, expressed to Chargé Patterson on May 12 “disillusioned acquiescence in an accomplished fact with regret that UN had found precipitate action necessary in respect of new state which had not yet shown regard for international obligations, respect for which customarily precedes recognition or acceptance into a fraternity of nations.” (Telegram 466, May 12, 5 p. m., from Cairo, 501.BB Palestine/5–1249)