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Sir Carl Berendsen, in expressing the intention of New Zealand to vote in favour of the recommendation, declared that in so doing we expected from Israel, just as from every other member of the Organization, due respect for the decisions of the United Nations. The pertinent decisions were those contained in the General Assembly resolution of 11 December, 1948, particularly those referring to the question of refugees and to the establishment of an international .regime over those parts of Jerusalem specified in the resolution. The resolution admitting Israel was eventually adopted by 37 votes (N.Z.) to 12 with 9 abstentions. Mr Sharett, Foreign Minister of Israel, then expressed his deep gratitude at the decision of the Assembly and pledged Israel's loyalty to the fundamental principles of the United Nations. The Study of the Social Problems of the Aboriginal Populations of the American Continent In view of the heavy agenda of the Third Committee, the Assembly decided to refer this item to the ad hoc Political Committee, which considered the question at two meetings. The item had been placed on the agenda by the delegation of Bolivia, which called for the assistance of the United Nations in solving the problems of the illiterate and underdeveloped populations of its own and other countries. This task could only be accomplished, said the Bolivian delegate, if the full scope of modern scientific and technical knowledge could be brought to bear on the problem. Articles 13 and 62 of the Charter empowered the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council to initiate such studies in international co-operation in the economic, social, cultural, educational, and health fields. Accordingly, Bolivia proposed that the Assembly should recommend to the Economic and Social Council, as the appropriate medium, that it should carry out such a study. The Eastern European States seized the opportunity afforded by this general discussion to indulge in propaganda. attacks, especially against the United States for its treatment of the Indian and Negro sections of its population. The Soviet delegate, for instance, stated that the question of the native populations of the American continent had become so acute that it could no longer be considered a domestic problem of the American States, but had to be viewed on the international level. Tjie Assembly must regard the problem above all as a manifestation of a policy of racial discrimination, especially in the United States, and should examine it from the aspect of continuing the struggle against discrimination. The United Nations must give effective assistance to these aboriginal peoples, who, reduced to slavery, disinherited, and dispossessed, were slowly dying out as a result of disease and the unbearable conditions imposed upon them.