This Day In Market History: UN Partitions Palestine For Independent Jewish State

Each day, Benzinga takes a look back at a notable market-related moment that occurred on this date.

What Happened: On Nov. 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to partition Palestine to establish a Jewish state.

Where The Market Was: The S&P 500 traded near $15.03, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded around $1,957.80.

What Else Was Going On In The World: NBC’s “Meet the Press” had debuted earlier that month, and Hollywood had instituted a blacklist denying employment to suspected Communists.

State Of Israel Is Born: Arab and Jewish settlers in the British-controlled territory had fought for the land since 1929. At the end of World War II, the U.S. advocated for the Zionist movement, and the U.N. soon voted to allocate for the creation of a Jewish and Arab state in the territory, with Jerusalem set aside as an international city.

The Jewish state became Israel, but the Arab state was never created. Egypt and Transjordan invaded and annexed the lands set aside for the Arab state after Israel was declared an independent state.

Transjordan changed its name to Jordan since it now covered both sides of the Jordan River. Those territories were won by Israel in the Six-Day War and are now known as Gaza and the West Bank.

Since that initial vote, Nov. 29 has brought incremental U.N. support for the Palestinian cause. In 1978, it began to observe an annual International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People, and in 2012, the U.N. voted to change Palestine’s status from “observer” to “observer state.”

Meanwhile, Israel continues to strengthen its position as a leader in the tech and financial industries, with particular prowess in fintech. The nation also boasts a number of trendy investment opportunities, including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries TEVA.

Phil Hall contributed to this report.