1947 Berger / Pales Press Map of the Proposed Borders of Israel

A 1947 Hebrew-language map of Israel-Palestine, published by Pales Press in Tel Aviv. It displays the planned borders of the Jewish State according to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on November 29, 1947.

A Closer Look

Covering British Mandatory Palestine and parts of surrounding territories, the map is divided into a blue portion, denoting the future Jewish State, and an unshaded portion, denoting a future Arab State. The proposed Jewish state is effectively split into three - a coastal region including Tel Aviv and Haifa, an inland area around the Sea of Galilee, and the Negev desert region to the south - with corridors (marked here as 'meeting points' נקודת מפגש) connecting them near Nazareth and Gan Yavne. Jerusalem and its immediate surroundings were meant to be ruled by a 'Special International Regime' overseen by the United Nations. Cities, waterways, railways, major roads, and international borders are also indicated. A note below the title states that 'This map was compiled according to the news from the newspapers until November 26, 1947.'

The U.N. Partition Plan and the First Arab-Israeli War

The founding of the nation of Israel resulted from decades-long processes but culminated dramatically in 1947 - 1949. Decolonization, nationalism, and migration had all worked to undermine both British rule and intercommunal relations between Jews and Arabs in the interwar period. The notion of partition was seriously considered in the late 1930s but was not able to resolve major obstacles. The consideration was sidelined due to the Second World War and British efforts to maintain good relations with Arab states (most of which were British protectorates or allies).

After the war, Britain was ill-equipped to handle the volatile situation and the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine was created on May 15, 1947, to attempt to mediate a solution. Composed of representatives from 11 countries, the partition plan imagined here was supported by a majority (8) of the committee members, and then passed as Resolution 181 of the U.N. General Assembly (33 votes for, 13 against, 10 abstentions). Most Zionist organizations supported the proposal, while Arabs in Palestine and Arab kingdoms rejected it on both principle and practical grounds (most notably, far more Arabs than Jews would need to be displaced to fulfill the borders outlined here). The British government was reluctant to endorse the plan, and nobody was especially happy with the arrangement for Jerusalem. Many specifics were not fully worked out, though an Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question was established to attempt to resolve remaining issues.

Intercommunal violence, as well as attacks by Zionist militias against the British, which had been occurring all along, only increased after the failure of the plan, resulting in widespread violence and civil war. As the British left in May 1948, Israel declared its independence, after which it was invaded by surrounding Arab states. After months of fierce fighting, Israeli forces pushed back the Arab and a series of armistice agreements ended the conflict. The resulting demarcation line, also known as the Green Line, which effectively formed Israel's border until 1967, included a considerably larger amount territory than that proposed in the U.N. Resolution, especially west of Jerusalem.

Publication History and Census

This map is copyrighted to one R. Berger in Tel Aviv, about whom no information is available. It was published by Pales (פפר) Press in Tel Aviv. The only known examples of the map in institutional collections are held by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the National Library of Israel.