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The representative of the Soviet Union objected to the fact that the proposed temporary administration was based on the trusteeship chapters of the Charter. The representative of the United Kingdom abstained on the grounds that trusteeship was unnecessary in view of the appointment of a Municipal Commissioner (in fact, Mr. Harold Evans, of Philadelphia, a distinguished American member of the Society of Friends, had by this stage been appointed) who could be made responsible to the United Nations by an Assembly declaration. First Committee and Assembly When the report of the sub-committee came before the First Committee it was, after some discussion, referred to the General Assembly without a recommendation, because, by then, only a few hours were left before the expiration of the mandate, and it was consequently felt that unnecessary repetition of argument must at all costs be avoided. In the Assembly the representative of Iraq repeated his argument that although the representative of France regarded the proposal as a " special administrative arrangement " the co-sponsor, the United States, had admitted it to be a trusteeship agreement, and consequently it was illegal since " the United Nations itself cannot present a trusteeship agreement and impose it on a country." Other Arab delegates added their support, and, although the President had ruled that each speaker should be allowed only five minutes, the time consumed by the Arab representatives and the Slav bloc was sufficient to postpone the voting on the proposal until several minutes after the mandate had officially been terminated. The actual legal position was, however, by no means clear, and the Assembly proceeded to a roll-call vote in which the proposal failed to obtain the necessary two-thirds majority. Twenty (including New Zealand) voted in favour, 15 against (the Arab States and their supporters and the Soviet Republics), and there were 19 abstentions (4 members being absent). During the course of the ensuing discussion on the question of Palestine as a whole, which was being considered by the same (the final) meeting of the plenary session, the Australian representative pointed out that since the resolution proposed in respect of a special regime for Jerusalem had been rejected by the Assembly, " no specific link of any kind will be provided between the United Nations and Jerusalem," and proposed, in the form of an amendment to the draft resolution on Palestine as a whole, that the Assembly should " link the proposal for a mediator in Palestine with the de facto legal and functional position in Jerusalem." Under this amendment the Assembly would call upon the Jerusalem Municipal Commissioner to consult and co-operate with the United Nations Mediator in Palestine, especially to ensure the protection of th£ inhabitants of Jerusalem and the preservation of the holy places " pending