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Section 3 Was the illegitimacy of Israel cured by recognition, by admission to the UN, or by prescription? Since the emergence of Israel, certain jurists have searched for some ground to legitimate its creation and to cover up the illegality of its origin. Some have found a ground for its legitimation in the fact of its recognition by a number of other States; others have found such a ground in the fact of its admission to membership of the UN. These two arguments in favour of Israel's legitimation were summarized by Quincy Wright as follows: "The Arab claims that the Balfour Declaration and the partition of Palestine violated their rights were probably originally valid, but became moot after the general recognition of Israel and its admission to the United Nations."14 Clarifying his thought further, the same writer declared that the admission of Israel to the UN and its recognition by most States "gave legal effectiveness to the partition resolution."15 At this point suffice it to remark generally that one fails to see on what legal basis a UN resolution which is ab initio void and of no effect could subsequently and retroactively acquire legal effectiveness. If, as is clear, the General Assembly was incompetent to partition Palestine, then it is difficult to understand how it could have subsequently acquired any such competence. Similarly, one also fails to see how the invalidating effect of the various grounds that nullify the resolution, namely the encroachment on the sovereignty of the people of Palestine, the violation of the Covenant of the League of Nations and of the Charter of the UN, the denial of justice, the exer- cise of undue influence, and the iniquity of partition, has ceased and come to an end just because some states have recognized Israel or because Israel was admit- ted to membership of the UN. If the partition resolution was null and void, then 14 Quincy Wright, "Legal Aspects of the Middle East Situation", The Middle East Crisis, p. 28, Oceana, 1969. 15 Quincy Wright, "The Middle East Problem", AJIL, 1970, p. 271.
