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How Smolar Brought Together Soviet,
Zionist Delegations at UN in 1947
By BORIS SMOLAR
(Copyright 1973 JTA, Inc.)
(Editor's Note: This article
is a chapter from the forth-
coming book by Boris Smolar
relating high points of his
worldwide journalistic ex-
periences. In this chapter,
Smolar relates how he was
instrumental in bringing to-
gether the Jewish Agency
delegation and the Soviet
delegation at the United Na-
tions during the discussions
there on the historic "Parti-
tion Resolution" which re-
sulted in the proclamation
of Israel).
In the spring of 1947, the
British government, which
then held the Palestine Man-
date, handed over the Pales-
tine issue to the UN. It was
stated that Britain was going
to abandon the mandate be-
cause she could not solve the
conflicts between Jews and
Arabs. The UN then ap-
pointed a commission of 11
members to inouire into the
Palestine problem and to
make the necessary recom-
mendations.
The commission returned
two reports. A majority
recommended the partition
of Palestine into two separ-
ate states. Jewish and Arab.
A minority report recom-
mended the introduction into
Palestine of a form of Fed-
erated Republic in which
Jews and Arabs would have
autonomous regions.
The State Department —
but not President Truman—
was at that time more pro-
Arab due to the influence
of the British government
which threatened that the
Arabs would murder all the
Jews of Palestine after the
last English troops would
have left the country. At
that time the attitude of the
Soviet delegation in the UN
on the two recommendations
was unknown. The head of
the Soviet delegation, Andre
Gromyko, and his assistant,
Semeon Tsarapkin, were
silent. It was important to
get to know their views. The
Jewish Agency was unable
to make the least effort to
find out what the Russians
were thinking, if only be-
because it was well known
that Moscow had always
been opposed to Zionism,
and that it had considered
the Zionists "agents of Bri-
tish imperialism."
The delegation of the Jew-
ish Agency, led by Moshe
Shertok — later famous as
Moshe Sharett when he
Hebraized his name after the
proclamation of the state of
Israel — was in favor of the
"Partition" recommendation
which, for the first time in
2,000 years, gave the Jews
the opportunity to re-estab-
lish their own state. The
great problem was whether
sufficient members of the
UN would vote in favor of
"Partition." Votes of the
Soviet bloc in the General
Assembly of the UN were to
be a decisive factor. Without
them there was not the least
chance of obtaining a major-
ity of votes in favor of "Par-
tition" in the UN General
Assembly.
It was important to find
out what were the views of
Gromyko and Tsarapkin on
the "Partition" recommen-
dation.
In the lobby set aside for
UN diplomats — at that time
the UN did not have its own
building and was conducting
BORIS SMOLAR
its sessions at Lake Success
near New York in a large
building which had previous-
ly been a factory for mili-
tary industry — I used to
meet, in my journalistic
capacity, during those his-
toric days, with leading
members of the American
delegation and with delega-
tions of other countries
which played a leading role
in the course of the UN ses-
sions. I had many intimate
friends among them who
kept me informed on views
prevailing among their own
delegations.
I did not, however, have
such contact with the Soviet
delegation. Their members
kept themselves isolated.
One of the leading mem-
bers of the Soviet delegation
was a Jew, Prof. Boris Stein,
whom I knew well and whom
I often met when I worked
in Moscow as an American
correspondent; but at the
UN he pretended not to know
me.
I have reason to think that
he was grateful to me that
I was deliberately avoiding
him, and that I was not even
greeting him as an acquaint-
ance. He was the "legal ad-
viser" at the Soviet For-
eign Office in Moscow and
was appointed the third
leading member of the So-
viet UN delegation, after
Gromyko and Tsarapkin.
However, although I avoid-
ed making any attempt to
talk to Prof. Stein, I did
decide to talk to Tsarapkin.
I introduced myself to him
in tihe diplomatic lobby as
chief editor of the JTA and
told him that 20 years earlier
I had worked in Moscow as
a correspondent of Pulitzer's
New York World. I talked to
him in Russian, and I did not
expect to hear any extra-
ordinary news from him.
I was pleasantly surprised
to find Tsarapkin was friend-
ly and that he was showing
willingness to talk with me
when I assured him that the
conversation would not be
used by me for the press.
We were talking about
acquaintances in general
whom I had known in Mos-
cow at the foreign office,
going back to the years when
I, as an American corre-
spondent, had to come there
every day to have my cables
to New York censored. I also
talked about some Soviet
writers whom I had known
personally. Naturally, this
was an introduction for me
to discuss the UN with him
and, above all, the Palestine
problem which was the focus
of the discussions at the ses-
sions of the UN General As-
sembly and special commis-
sions — discussions In which
his delegation participated.
A well-trained diplomat—
he is now the deputy of the
foreign ministry in Moscow
and the leading figure in the
Soviet-American arms reduc-
tion negotiations—Tsarapkin
was a smooth talker, but he
did not tell me anything
apart from what was already
known. I thought that this
first talk of ours, though I
learned nothing from it,
would open the door for pos-
sible additional conversation
with that important Soviet
Midrash Lore
diplomat in the course of the
UN sessions. I therefore con-
on Marriage
sidered it tactically better
Before a man marries, his not to ask then about the
love goes to his parents;
after he marries, his love
goes to his wife.
—Pirke de-R. Eliezer
Rabbi Judah said: "If a
Rabbi Jacob said: "He
who has no wife lives with- man does no work, people
out good, or help, or joy, or speak about him and say,
blessing, or atonement." `How does so-and-so manage
Rabbi Joshua of Sikhnin to eat and drink?' It is like
(Sogane), in the name of a woman who has no hus-
Rabbi Levi, added that such band, but who decks herself
a man is also without life. and goes into the street, and
Rabbi Hiyya ben Gammada people speak about her."
Rabbi Me'ir said: "He who
said that he is not really a
complete man, and some say does not work in the week
that he diminishes the Divine will end by working on the
Likness. —Bereshit Rabba Sabbath. How is this? If a
There was once a pious man is idle for two or three
man who was married to a days, he will have nothing to
pious woman, and they had eat, and he will steal. They
no children. They said, "We will catch him, hand him
are no profit to God." so they over to the government, and
divorced one another. The cast him into prison, where
man went and married a bad he will have to work on the
woman, and she made him Sabbath."
bad. The woman, on the
Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah
other hand, went and mar- said: "Great is work, and
ried a bad man, and she each craftsman should walk
made him good. This proves abroad with the implements
that all depends up on the of his calling, and be proud
woman. —Bereshit Rabba of them. Thus the weaver
The bridegroom should not should appear with a shuttle
enter the marriage chamber in his hand, the dyer with
until the bride gives him wool in his arms, and the
leave.— Pesikta Rabbati.
scribe with his pen behind
There is no greater adul- his ear. All have a right to
tery than when a woman, be proud of their craft. Even
while her husband has inter- God speaks of His own work
course with her, thinks of (Gen. 2:2); how much more
another man.
should man!"
—Abot d'R. Nathan
—Tanhuma Buber, Naso
Great Is Work!
Soviet attitude to the "Par-
tition" recommendation, and
to leave it for another occa-
sion. But I did put a ques-
tion to him to which I re-
ceived a rather unexpected
and important answer:
"Would you like me to
introduce a representative of
the Jewish Agency to you?"
I asked him, knowing that
his delegation had no con-
tact with the Jewish Agency
delegation.
I was sure that he would
tactfully reply "no." I was
surprised when he answered
in a very natural and friend-
ly tone, "why not . . ." Such
a short and positive reply by
Tsarapkin I had not expect-
ed. I looked around in the
diplomatic lobby to see
which of the leaders of the
Jewish Agency happened to
be there, and I saw Dr.
Emanuel Neumann sitting
quietly in a corner and talk-
ing to a man from Washing-
ton.
"Here is Dr. Neumann
sitting, one of the main lead-
ers of the Jewish Agency in
America," I told Tsarapkin,
"can I bring him over to
you?"
"Certainly!" was his reply.
I left him alone for a few
seconds, and I harried over
to Dr. Neumann and told
h'm that I had arranged for
him to see Tsarapldn now.
Surprised, he excused him-
self from his friend from
Washington and I led him to
Tsarapkin and introduced
them to each other. Since
Dr. Neumann does not speak
Russian — though Tsarapkin
speaks good English — I re-
mained between the two of
them as a participant in the
conversation, and I assisted
here and there, translating a
word from Russian which
Tsarapkin might use in the
course of the conversation.
Before long the eyes of
various diplomats who were
present in the lobby were
turned to the corner where
the Tsarapkin - Neumann
meeting was taking place.
This was the first time in
the history of the UN that
anyone had seen a leading
Soviet delegate talking to a
leading Zionist openly, at the
time when Zionism was pro-
hibited in Soviet Russia. The
astonished diplomats drew
proper diplomatic specula-
tive conclusions from this.
By itself the conference
between Tsarapkin and Neu-
mann did not contain any-
thing of momentous political
importance. They did not
talk about the "Partition"
recommendation or even
about the Palestine problem
in general. On the past of
Tsarapkin it was not more
than a hint that the doors
of the Soviet UN delegation
were open for a delegation
from the Jewish Agency.
That in itself was an extra-
ordinary achievement. Par-
ticularly important was the
fact that Tsarapkin talked
to Dr. Neumann in public.
The meeting between Dr.
Neumann and Tsarapkin was
the beginning of the informal
meetings held later between
the delegation of the Jewish
Agency led by Moshe Sher-
tok (Sharett) and the Soviet
delegation in the building of
the Soviet consulate in New
York which culminated in
the Soviet vote at the UN for
the Partition Resolution.