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   recommendations, but emphasized the "intense urge" of the overwhelming   
   majority of Jewish displaced persons to proceed to Palestine. The Jewish   
   Agency criticized the proposed boundaries, especially in the Western   
   Galilee and Western Jerusalem (outside of the old city), arguing that   
   these should be included in the Jewish state. However, they agreed to   
   accept the plan if "it would make possible the immediate   
   re-establishment of the Jewish State with sovereign control of its own   
   immigration."   
      
   Arab states requested representation on the UN ad hoc subcommittees of   
   October 1947, but were excluded from Subcommittee One, which had been   
   delegated the specific task of studying and, if thought necessary,   
   modifying the boundaries of the proposed partition.[62]   
      
   Sub-Committee 2   
   The Sub-Committee 2, set up on 23 October 1947 to draw up a detailed   
   plan based on proposals of Arab states presented its report within a few   
   weeks.[63]   
      
   Based on a reproduced British report, the Sub-Committee 2 criticised the   
   UNSCOP report for using inaccurate population figures, especially   
   concerning the Bedouin population. The British report, dated 1 November   
   1947, used the results of a new census in Beersheba in 1946 with   
   additional use of aerial photographs, and an estimate of the population   
   in other districts. It found that the size of the Bedouin population was   
   greatly understated in former enumerations. In Beersheba, 3,389 Bedouin   
   houses and 8,722 tents were counted. The total Bedouin population was   
   estimated at approximately 127,000; only 22,000 of them normally   
   resident in the Arab state under the UNSCOP majority plan. The British   
   report stated:   
      
   "the term Beersheba Bedouin has a meaning more definite than one would   
   expect in the case of a nomad population. These tribes, wherever they   
   are found in Palestine, will always describe themselves as Beersheba   
   tribes. Their attachment to the area arises from their land rights there   
   and their historic association with it."[64]   
      
   In respect of the UNSCOP report, the Sub-Committee concluded that the   
   earlier population "estimates must, however, be corrected in the light   
   of the information furnished to the Sub-Committee by the representative   
   of the United Kingdom regarding the Bedouin population. According to the   
   statement, 22,000 Bedouins may be taken as normally residing in the   
   areas allocated to the Arab State under the UNSCOP's majority plan, and   
   the balance of 105,000 as resident in the proposed Jewish State. It will   
   thus be seen that the proposed Jewish State will contain a total   
   population of 1,008,800, consisting of 509,780 Arabs and 499,020 Jews.   
   In other words, at the outset, the Arabs will have a majority in the   
   proposed Jewish State."[65]   
      
   The Sub-Committee 2 recommended to put the question of the Partition   
   Plan before the International Court of Justice (Resolution No. I [66]).   
   In respect of the Jewish refugees due to World War II, the Sub-Committee   
   recommended to request the countries of which the refugees belonged to   
   take them back as much as possible (Resolution No. II[67]). The   
   Sub-Committee proposed to establish a unitary state (Resolution No.   
   III[68]).   
      
   Boundary changes   
   The ad hoc committee made a number of boundary changes to the UNSCOP   
   recommendations before they were voted on by the General Assembly.   
      
   The predominantly Arab city of Jaffa, previously located within the   
   Jewish state, was constituted as an enclave of the Arab State. The   
   boundary of the Arab state was modified to include Beersheba and a strip   
   of the Negev desert along the Egyptian border,[56] while a section of   
   the Dead Sea shore and other additions were made to the Jewish State.   
   This move increased the Jewish percentage in the Jewish state from 55%   
   to 61%.[citation needed]   
      
   The proposed boundaries would also have placed 54 Arab villages on the   
   opposite side of the border from their farm land.[citation needed] In   
   response, the United Nations Palestine Commission established in 1948   
   was empowered to modify the boundaries "in such a way that village areas   
   as a rule will not be divided by state boundaries unless pressing   
   reasons make that necessary". These modifications never occurred.   
      
   The vote   
      
   Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question, document   
   A/516, dated 25 November 1947. This was the document voted on by the UN   
   General Assembly on 29 November 1947, and became known as the "United   
   Nations Partition Plan for Palestine".[69]   
   Passage of the resolution required a two-thirds majority of the valid   
   votes, not counting abstaining and absent members, of the UN's then 57   
   member states. On 26 November, after filibustering by the Zionist   
   delegation, the vote was postponed by three days.[70][71] According to   
   multiple sources, had the vote been held on the original set date, it   
   would have received a majority, but less than the required   
   two-thirds.[71][72][73] Various compromise proposals and variations on a   
   single state, including federations and cantonal systems were debated   
   (including those previously rejected in committee).[74][75] The delay   
   was used by supporters of Zionism in New York to put extra pressure on   
   states not supporting the resolution.[70]   
      
   Reports of pressure for and against the Plan   
   Reports of pressure for the Plan   
   Zionists launched an intense White House lobby to have the UNSCOP plan   
   endorsed, and the effects were not trivial.[76] The Democratic Party, a   
   large part of whose contributions came from Jews,[77] informed Truman   
   that failure to live up to promises to support the Jews in Palestine   
   would constitute a danger to the party. The defection of Jewish votes in   
   congressional elections in 1946 had contributed to electoral losses.   
   Truman was, according to Roger Cohen, embittered by feelings of being a   
   hostage to the lobby and its 'unwarranted interference', which he blamed   
   for the contemporary impasse. When a formal American declaration in   
   favour of partition was given on 11 October, a public relations   
   authority declared to the Zionist Emergency Council in a closed meeting:   
   'under no circumstances should any of us believe or think we had won   
   because of the devotion of the American Government to our cause. We had   
   won because of the sheer pressure of political logistics that was   
   applied by the Jewish leadership in the United States'. State Department   
   advice critical of the controversial UNSCOP recommendation to give the   
   overwhelmingly Arab town of Jaffa, and the Negev, to the Jews was   
   overturned by an urgent and secret late meeting organized for Chaim   
   Weizman with Truman, which immediately countermanded the recommendation.   
   The United States initially refrained from pressuring smaller states to   
   vote either way, but Robert A. Lovett reported that America's U.N.   
   delegation's case suffered impediments from high pressure by Jewish   
   groups, and that indications existed that bribes and threats were being   
   used, even of American sanctions against Liberia and Nicaragua.[78] When   
   the UNSCOP plan failed to achieve the necessary majority on 25 November,   
   the lobby 'moved into high gear' and induced the President to overrule   
   the State Department, and let wavering governments know that the U.S.   
   strongly desired partition.[79]   
      
   Proponents of the Plan reportedly put pressure on nations to vote yes to   
   the Partition Plan. A telegram signed by 26 US Senators with influence   
   on foreign aid bills was sent to wavering countries, seeking their   
      
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