Bernadotte was appointed by UN General Assembly Resolution 186 of May 14th and I will quote his mandate which is important. It is a long resolution but his main tasks are as follows. Firstly, I quote, “To use his good offices with the local ….. authorities in Palestine ….. to promote a peaceful adjustment of the future situation in Palestine”. I will call that the political task of Count Bernadotte. Secondly, I quote, “To cooperate with the Truce Commission” that had been appointed earlier by the Security Council; that will be his military task, to establish a truce in Palestine. Thirdly, I quote, “To invite, ….. with a view to the promotion of the welfare of the inhabitants of Palestine, the assistance and co-operation of appropriate specialised agencies of the United Nations ….. and of the International Red Cross”. I will call that his humanitarian task.
As you can see, this mandate is a very broad one and it begets the mediator, Count Bernadotte of Sweden, a very large operational mandate. And that forms the foundation of his work during the few months in the summer of 1948 when he achieves a kind of pivotal political role in Palestine. It also means that the existing UN bodies, the Palestine Commission, the Truce Commission and others fade away into the background with Bernadotte taking central stage in Palestine. Nota bene in the Resolution, the United Nations gives no resources whatsoever to the mediator. He has wide responsibilities but he receives no resources whatsoever to implement them.
That Resolution was proposed by the British and drafted by the Americans but the Soviet Union who saw no need of a UN mediator voted No. The Arab states abstained. So you see that from this very first stage, the Cold War intervenes in his mission. He is supported by the British, he is supported by the Americans and he is opposed by the Soviet Union. The Arabs are neutral. They do not support him but they do not reject him either. The state of Israel, of course, is not yet a member of the United Nations.
If we now examine this UN General Assembly Resolution 186 of May 14th, we can say, of course, that his most important task, the over-arching task, is the political one, to establish a peaceful settlement in Palestine. And that is also the reason why he takes central stage during the summer of 1948. And that is also the reason why he was killed.
THE MISSION OF COUNT FOLKE BERNADOTTE, A COSTLY LESSON IN MISPERCEPTIONS Professor Sune Persson Associate Professor (docent) in Political Science, University of Göteborg ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE, LONDON, 2 JUNE 2004
