Resolution 181 recommended dividing the Mandate into an Arab state and a Jewish state, with three separated geographic areas assigned to each. Jerusalem, including Bethlehem and nearby villages, was to form a separate international district administered by the United Nations. A customs union, common currency, and joint services were intended to connect the two proposed states. The resolution was a recommendation; its institutional plan was never implemented as written.
How the plan drew the two states
The plan assigned the Jewish state eastern Galilee, a central coastal area, and the Negev. The Arab state was to include western Galilee, the hill country of Samaria and Judea, and the southern coastal area. Jaffa was designated as an Arab enclave adjoining the Jewish state. The resulting map was not a simple continuous line between two territories: each state included separated areas, so the resolution also proposed transit arrangements and joint institutions. The resolution’s map and boundary descriptions appear in the text of Resolution 181.
Jerusalem’s proposed international status
The plan designated Jerusalem and surrounding territory as a corpus separatum, or separate body, under a UN Trusteeship Council arrangement. The district included Bethlehem and nearby villages. The proposal called for a governor and a legislative council, protection of holy places, and access to them. Jerusalem was not assigned to either proposed state in Resolution 181. This was a planned international regime, not a status that the UN established on the ground. The resolution itself describes the boundaries and governance proposed for the city.
What economic union would have required
Part IV of the resolution set out an economic union between the two states. It called for a customs union, a joint currency, freedom of transit and trade, and shared administration of services such as railways, roads, postal and telephone systems, ports, and airports. A joint economic board with representatives of both states and international members would supervise common matters. These provisions were designed to keep transport and commerce functioning across the proposed borders, as the resolution’s economic-union section spells out. A U.S. government summary also identifies the plan’s economic union and Jerusalem regime as central provisions of the recommendation.
Recommendation versus implementation
The General Assembly asked the parties and the United Kingdom to adopt and implement the plan, and called for a UN commission to assist with the transition. But the proposed states, joint board, and Jerusalem regime did not come into being under Resolution 181. The vote endorsed a framework; it did not itself settle borders through a treaty or transfer administration. For the vote, political responses, and adoption process, see UNSCOP and the responses.