The Partition of Palestine

What Really Happened at the United Nations in 1947

"Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children…" Isaiah 66:8


The story behind the partition of Palestine, which led to the creation of the State of Israel one year later, is a saga that may very well be entitled, "Against All Odds" or "The Greatest Miracle." It is a suspense-filled drama of raging passions, pressure, blackmail, crises, complete with all the elements of fictional order, culminating in the birth of a nation that came into being as a miracle.

Many believe in error that it was the Philippine vote that broke the tie that went on for several days at the United Nations votation, while pro and anti-Zionist forces raged against each other behind the scenes from Washington to New York, with repercussions felt from Manila to as far away as Buenos Aires.

The Philippines was the only Asian country that voted for the resolution of Palestine at the United Nations in 1947. However, contrary to what is generally known among Filipinos, the Philippine delegation did not cast the deciding vote that made Israel a nation one year later. At one point, the Philippine vote would have been the tie-breaker, but by the time the Philippine delegation went to cast its vote in favor of partition, Haiti had changed its earlier "no" vote to "yes. Thus, it was no longer a tie.

Carlos P. Romulo, the Philippine representative to the United Nations at that time, and who later became president of the UN General Assembly and Security Council, wrote in his memoirs, Romulo, A Third World Soldier at the UN, "The most unpopular stand the Philippines took was over the proposed partition of Palestine to create the State of Israel. At first, the Philippines opposed partition" (Romulo & Romulo, 1987). According to Romulo, he had discussed the issue with then President Manuel Roxas, who was also against it for the reason that he believed "partitioning would mean potential danger in the peace of the world, and the Arabs would never accept it." Furthermore, Roxas believed that it would cause friction in the Middle East and establish a precedent, citing the situation in Mindanao which, while the Philippines was still a Commonwealth, was once proposed to be segregated from the rest of the country, prior to our gaining independence from the United States. On his part, Romulo felt that "to carve out a country from an already populated land would create a trouble spot that would continue to fester, which it has."

The Philippines had delivered the first statement against partition, and many believed that it might be the deciding vote, considering the fact that the Arab countries would naturally vote against it as well. The speech that Romulo made had caused so much ire among the nations, and as he went out of the UN Bldg. afterwards, he was met with boos and hisses from an angry crowd of demonstrators made up mostly of Jewish students. An avalanche of phone calls came during the following days from people who supported the Zionist cause, angrily and passionately protesting the Philippine stand, and asking him to change his position; but under instructions from President Roxas, Romulo maintained his opposition to the partition issue.

After two days, President Roxas called Romulo to reverse the Philippine stand for reasons of national interest. The United States Congress was threatening to withdraw any further aid to the Philippines, and only a "yes" vote would stop the threat. Because of this instruction to reverse the Philippine position, Romulo tendered his resignation as Philippine delegate to the UN, but after an explanation from President Roxas, he withdrew his resignation and continued on in his UN post.

In his memoirs, Romulo wrote: "Actually as I pieced it all together later, it was not President Roxas who had reversed himself. It was our ambassador in Washington, Mike Elizalde who had taken it upon himself to force our delegation to vote in favor of partition. He had called my surrogate, Judge Ingles, and told him the Philippines must vote with the United States and implied that he had authority from Roxas, which was not precisely true. When Ingles tried to contact me, a storm at sea prevented the call from getting through, and had then tried to clear directly from the President. What the President had actually advised was that the Philippines, considering the pressure from the US Congress, which Elizalde described, should abstain. But Elizalde felt we must go one step further, and took it upon himself to insist on the vote. Congress was threatening to cut off further aid to the Philippines, and only a vote in support of partition would appease it."


The pressure exerted upon the Philippines by the US government to vote in favor of partition is included in a website, citing the writings of Michael Comay, head of the Jewish Agency at that time and who wrote accounts of how President Truman's administration vigorously worked on positive votes for what was known as UN Resolution 181. According to the al-bushra.org/America website, two members of the UN Supreme Court cabled President Manuel Roxas, threatening him with negative consequences to Philippine interests in America if the Philippines did not change its vote from "no" to "yes." Ten US senators allegedly sent the President similar threats. There were seven bills which would impact the Philippines pending in the US Congress at that time. Finally on the eleventh hour, an aide of President Truman conferred with Philippine Ambassador to the US Mike Elizalde in Washington. Thus, the change of stand.

Meanwhile in Washington, another drama was raging: pro and anti-Zionist forces were fighting it out against each other. In favor of the Jews' desire for a homeland, President Truman defied all threats and pressures on him. A high-ranking official in the Truman cabinet who had done business with the Nazis during the war was against a Jewish state, and was coordinating opposition within the US government. Vote on partition required a two-thirds majority to pass, and three related votes were held before the UN's Ad Hoc Committee to test run for the actual partition vote. On November 25, 1947, the matter of partition did get referred to the General Assembly, although there were only 25 in support and 13 votes against. The Jews had only three days to win enough votes; otherwise, they could lose their dream of a Jewish homeland.

Behind the scenes, key Zionist personalities vigorously worked to get the extra vote needed to win the partition issue. Desperate, some had resorted to blackmail by practically holding a figurative gun to the head of a very powerful American businessman who held sway over most of the Latin American countries and could influence their votes. A comprehensive dossier of the American businessman's financial dealings with the Nazis during the war had been compiled by the Zionists and shown to the business tycoon. Under threat of his Nazi connections being exposed, he agreed to get the extra votes needed to win the partition issue, for as long as the Jews kept quiet about his Nazi business connections and the haven he had given German war criminals in South America. Within three days, the American business tycoon was able to successfully convince his Latin American governmental and business contacts to change their earlier votes. Brazil and Haiti, who had voted "no" on November 26, voted "yes" on November 29. Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Ecuador voted in favor where they had previously abstained. Argentina, Colombia and El Salvador who had voted against, now abstained.



Finally, the vote was 33 for and 13 against with 10 abstentions. The Resolution was approved by the United Nations 128th Plenary Session on November 29, 1947. The vote was as follows: voting yes were – Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Canada, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, Liberia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Paraguay, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Union of South Africa, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United States of America, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Voting against were – Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen.

Abstaining were Argentina, Chile, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mexico, United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia.

And the State of Israel was born – on May 4, 1948, against all odds, and as the greatest miracle of all time so that Scripture would be fulfilled!