Today, November 29, 1947, marks the day on which the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of the resolution, no. 181, adopting a partition plan for the land of Israel under the British Palestine Mandate. The plan called for the termination of the Mandate and the division of the territory between Jews and Arabs, with the creation of a Jewish and an Arab state. Despite the fact that the Jewish state was to receive only a small part of Western Palestine, the mainstream Zionist Organization and its institutions agreed to accept the plan, since it recognized the right of the Jewish people to a state and not only a "national home" as stated in the 1917 Balfour Declaration and the 1922 Mandate for Palestine. According to the Knesset’s official website , "The adoption of the partition resolution by the General Assembly was received by the Jewish community with great joy and thousands went out to the streets to celebrate, even though it was clear that the Arab states and the Palestinian Arabs would embark on a relentless war against the realization of the plan to establish a Jewish state."
UN General Assembly Resolution 181 [Excerpt]:
"The Mandate for Palestine shall terminate as soon as possible but in any case not later than 1 August 1948....
"Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem, set forth in Part III of this Plan, shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948....
"The period between the adoption by the General Assembly of its recommendation on the question of Palestine and the establishment of the independence of the Arab and Jewish States shall be a transitional period."
UN General Assembly Resolution 181 [Excerpt]:
"The Mandate for Palestine shall terminate as soon as possible but in any case not later than 1 August 1948....
"Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem, set forth in Part III of this Plan, shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948....
"The period between the adoption by the General Assembly of its recommendation on the question of Palestine and the establishment of the independence of the Arab and Jewish States shall be a transitional period."