On this day 69 years ago, November 29 1947, the United Nations voted in favor of partitioning the British Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. This legal recognition of Jewish statehood was important but despite what you will hear throughout the day, even from many Israel-supporters, this did not create the Jewish State!
While the UNGA did vote for partition (33 for, 13 against, 10 abstentions) it was never enforced because even though the Zionist leadership accepted it, the Arabs, both inside and outside the Mandate, rejected it. Riots by local Arabs began almost immediately, but the Arab states held off on attacking until after the British officially withdrew on May 15, 1948, one day after Israel declared independence.
The only reason why Israel was created and survived was because Zionists declared statehood and defended it with their lives. The UN did give legal backing to Jewish statehood (just the latest in a long list of legal foundations for Israel as seen in the video below), but it was unwilling to do anything to make this happen.
One of the central tenets of Zionism has always been Jewish self-reliance because, when the chips are down, the only one Jews can count on to defend us is us, the Jewish People. This was true throughout history when well-meaning non-Jews looked the other way at anti-Jewish violence, it was true when many good people in Europe said nothing during the Holocaust and it was true when the UN said it favored Jewish Rights but then didn’t lift a finger to protect them.
So yes, the United Nations did take a good step forward in 1947 when it voted in favor of partition, but no, it did not create the State of Israel. If you’re looking for someone to thank for that, thank our Founding Fathers for having the chutzpah to declare independence when the world turned its back on us, or, better yet, thank an Israeli soldier for putting their life on the line to make sure our dream of an independent Jewish State stays alive.
