the majority partition plan by twenty- fi ve votes to thirteen, with nineteen
abstentions. It also altered the territorial limits in favor of the Jewish
state. In a last- minute eff ort, the Arab states unsuccessfully sought to
refer the entire question to the International Court of Justice. As the
date for the fi nal vote neared, it was unclear if the partition plan would
secure the necessary two- thirds majority. This raised some hopes among
the Indian delegation. Mrs. Pandit, who had been unenthusiastic about
the federal plan in early October, revised her position and advised: “It is
probable that the special committee will be re- convened immediately and
set to work on the federal solution, which has increasing support. Can-
ada, Netherlands and Belgium yesterday [November 26] expressed pref-
erence for such solution, though they would vote for partition, in the ab-
sence of another alternative.”^84 Indian optimism was supported by Arab
rethinking on the issue. For the fi rst time, the Arab states were prepared
to consider the Indian proposal for a federal Palestine.^85
Commenting on the last- minute volte face of the Arab countries, Nehru
lamented before the Constituent Assembly:
[The Arab states were] so keen on the unitary state idea and were so
sure of at any rate preventing partition or preventing two- third ma-
jority in favor of partition, that they did not accept our suggestion.
When, during the last few days, partition somehow suddenly became
inevitable and it was realized that the Indian solution was probably
the best... a last- minute attempt was made in the last 48 hours to
bring forward the Indian solution not by us but by those who wanted a
unitary state. It was then too late.^86The rejection of the unitary plan and approval of the partition plan by the
ad hoc committee had forced the Arabs to rethink. By then it was too late.
On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution
181, recommending the partition of Palestine. Both at the ad hoc commit-
tee and in the General Assembly, India was the most prominent non-
Islamic country to vote against partition.
Even this UN endorsement did not diminish Indian zeal. The post-
vote violence in Palestine off ered another opportunity. Between Novem-
ber 1947 and May 1948, when the British were to complete their with-
drawal from Mandate Palestine, New Delhi made another unsuccessful
attempt to bridge the gap between the Arabs and the Zionists. This time,
the task fell on the shoulders of Sir B. N. Rau, an adviser to India’s
the partition of palestine 105