Episode Details

Could a single vote change the course of world history? In this episode of Everything Jewish: 10 Minutes at a Time, we'll revisit the dramatic events surrounding the United Nations Partition Plan of 1947, when the world voted on whether to divide the British Mandate of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. We'll explore why the proposal was made, how delegates lobbied feverishly for every last vote, why Jewish leaders accepted a plan that gave them imperfect borders, why Arab leaders rejected it, and how one historic decision set the stage for both the birth of Israel and the first Arab-Israeli war. It's one of the most consequential votes ever cast—and its impact is still felt today.