Office of the Historian

501.BB Palestine/4–2848: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the United States Representative at the United Nations (Austin)

secret   us urgent
niact
Washington, April 28, 1948—1 p. m.

261. When French plan for safeguarding Jerusalem1 is discussed in TC this afternoon US rep. should express gratification at initiative of French del. in offering concrete proposals. French del. should be asked how quickly it feels 1,000 volunteer policemen can be brought to Jerusalem; what emoluments and pay they would receive; what arms they would possess and whence these arms would be obtained; and to what authority would they look for their own authority.

Since 1,000 men would be unable to establish order in a large city if Jews and Arabs were engaged in active hostilities it is presumed that essential condition to sending such a special police force would be agreement by Arabs and Jews not to fight in Jerusalem. Please ask the French if there is any prospect of such agreement.

US rep. should add that the French proposal for sending a volunteer police force to Palestine would require some adequate legal basis. We would gladly support French proposal, provided it has some chance of acceptance by Arabs and Jews, if it were placed within framework of definite trusteeship under TC.

You are authorized in your discretion to use all or such portions of draft trusteeship agreement transmitted in Deptel 256, Apr. 26, as may meet this requirement.

Marshall
  1. The General Assembly, on April 26, by a vote of 46 to none, with seven abstentions, approved a resolution calling on the “Trusteeship Council to study, with the Mandatory Power and the interested parties, suitable measures for the protection of the city and its inhabitants, and to submit within the shortest possible time proposals to the General Assembly to that effect.” For discussion in the Assembly, see GA (II/SS), Plenary, p. 10. The full text of the resolution is printed in GA (II/SS), Resolutions, p. 5.

    The resolution was based on a French draft resolution that was amended by Sweden; for texts, see GA (II/SS), Annex, p. 32. The United States supported these measures before Committee I; for text of Mr. Jessup’s statement of April 26, see Department of State Bulletin, May 9, 1948, p. 591.

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