Arab League governments opposed partition before the 1947 UN vote and backed the demand for an Arab state across the country. The General Assembly nevertheless adopted Resolution 181 on November 29. Fighting between Arab and Jewish forces began afterward, while the British Mandate was still in force; neighboring Arab states sent regular forces into the former Mandate after Israel declared independence in May 1948. These were separate stages of the conflict, not a single invasion on the day of the vote.
Arab governments’ position before the vote
Arab states that participated in the UN debate rejected partition and favored an independent Arab state. On September 29, Arab Higher Committee representative Jamal Husseini told the Ad Hoc Committee that Palestine’s constitutional future was for its inhabitants to decide, and advocated an Arab state throughout the country with equal civil rights and protections for minorities. The United States’ diplomatic record summarizes his statement. The UN vote reflected that opposition: Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, and other states voted against Resolution 181.
Arab League governments coordinated politically and issued public statements against the proposal. They opposed partition before the vote; local fighting began afterward, and neighboring Arab armies entered in May 1948.
What happened after November 29
Fighting between Arab and Jewish irregular forces broke out before Britain’s Mandate ended. A U.S. National Security Council report written in 1949 describes both the rejection of the resolution by Arab residents’ leaders and Arab governments and the fighting that began before the Mandate ended. It then distinguishes that conflict from the entry of neighboring states’ armies after the establishment of Israel. The report’s account of the first months of war makes that chronology explicit.
The regular armies of neighboring Arab states entered the former Mandate after Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, as the British Mandate ended. This followed months of fighting inside the country. The civil conflict and the subsequent interstate war were connected but distinct phases. The broader sequence is covered in Israel’s War of Independence.
Why the distinction matters
Resolution 181 proposed two states and an economic union; Arab League states opposed that arrangement, while the Jewish Agency accepted it as a basis for statehood. Local fighting began after the vote, and neighboring armies entered later. For the proposal and each side’s stated position, see UNSCOP and Resolution 181.