The declaration of a Jewish state in May 1948 was said not to violate existing rights because a sovereignty vacuum obtained. That view was opposed by an argument that Palestine was a state, and that its territory could not be divided against the will of its population. The declaration recited that it was based on historical rights of the Jewish people in Palestine, and on the General Assembly’s resolution recommending partition of Palestine. The historical rights basis was opposed on an argument that no such rights could prevail over the rights of the existing population. The General Assembly resolution argument was opposed on the grounds that the resolution was outside the powers of the General Assembly, that the resolution was in any event only a recommendation, that the resolution had been superseded by the General Assembly’s effort toward a United Nations trusteeship, and that the declaration violated the terms of the General Assembly’s resolution by failing to ensure nationality to the population and by failing to commit to respecting Palestine’s existing treaties.