United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine

The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal developed by the United Nations for the future government of Mandatory Palestine following the termination of the British Mandate. Drafted by the UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) on 3 September 1947, the Plan was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 29 November 1947 as Resolution 181 (II). The resolution recommended the partition of Mandatory Palestine into independent but economically linked Arab and Jewish states, together with an extraterritorial "Special International Regime" for the city of Jerusalem and its surroundings.

The Partition Plan, a four-part document attached to the resolution, provided for the termination of the Mandate; the gradual withdrawal of British armed forces by no later than 1 August 1948; and the delineation of boundaries between the two states and Jerusalem at least two months after the withdrawal, but no later than 1 October 1948. The Arab state was to have a territory of 11,592 square kilometres (42.88% of the Mandate's territory), and the Jewish state a territory of 15,264 square kilometres (56.47%). The remaining 176 square kilometres (0.65%), comprising Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the adjoining area, would become an international zone. The Plan also called for an economic union between the proposed states and for the protection of religious and minority rights.

The Plan sought to address the conflicting objectives and claims of two competing movements: Palestinian nationalism and Jewish nationalism in the form of Zionism. Jewish organizations collaborated with UNSCOP during the deliberations, while Palestinian Arab leadership boycotted it. The Plan's detractors considered the proposal to be pro-Zionist, as it allocated most land to the Jewish state despite Palestinian Arabs numbering twice the Jewish population. The Plan was celebrated by most Jews in Palestine and reluctantly accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine with misgivings. Zionist leaders, in particular David Ben-Gurion, viewed the acceptance of the plan as a tactical step and a steppingstone to future territorial expansion over all of Palestine.

The Arab Higher Committee, the Arab League and other Arab leaders and governments rejected the Plan, as aside from Arabs forming a two-thirds majority, they owned most of the territory. They also indicated an unwillingness to accept any form of territorial division, arguing that it violated the principles of national self-determination in the UN Charter that granted people the right to decide their own destiny. They announced their intention to take all necessary measures to prevent the implementation of the resolution. The plan was not implemented and a civil war quickly broke out in Palestine, eventually becoming a larger regional war, and leading to the expulsion and flight of 85% of the Palestinians living in the areas that became the State of Israel.