IN 1947, Herbert Vere “Doc” Evatt was Australia’s external affairs minister and the appointed chair of the United Nation’s Ad-Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question, which was tasked with devising a plan for Palestine in the wake of World War II, as Britain planned to relinquish its mandate over the area. According to Jewish-Australian historian Dr Suzanne Rutland, Evatt’s manoeuvrers at the UN were instrumental in securing the narrow two-thirds majority support required for the partition of Palestine and the creation of a Jewish state. 

Guest: Dr Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emeritus at the University of Sydney, Department of Hebrew, Biblical & Jewish StudiesProducer: Rebecca Metcalf, Jack Schmidt