United Nations announces a partition plan for Palestine

The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine or United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 (II) Future Government of Palestine was a plan adopted by a decision of the General Assembly on November 29, 1947.

The decision facilitated the establishment of two provisional states, one Jewish and one Arab, and provided the framework for a regional economic union. The General Assembly also decided that the City of Jerusalem would be established as a corpus separatum under a special international regime administered by the United Nations. A transitional period under UN auspices started with the adoption of the resolution that provided for swift withdrawal of British forces, the termination of the British Mandate of Palestine by August 1, 1948, and full independence of the new states by 1 October 1948.

The plan was approved by a vote of 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions. On March 5, 1948, the United Nations Security Council reached an impasse when it refused to pass a resolution which would have accepted the partition plan as a basis for Security Council action. The United States subsequently recommended a temporary UN trusteeship for Palestine "without prejudice to the character of the eventual political settlement", and the Security Council voted to send the matter back to the General Assembly for further deliberation. The General Assembly decided to appoint a Mediator, and relieved the Palestine Commission from any further exercise of responsibility under resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947.

Israel's Declaration of Independence of May 1948 cites the UN resolution among the items recognizing the right of the Jewish People to establish a state. The Palestinian Declaration of Independence of 1988 similarly recalls the partition plan as being among the sources entitling Palestinian Arabs to statehood.