Naval postgraduate school monterey, california thesis approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

A History of Zionism,
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972), 343,347; 
John and Hadawi, 
The Palestine Diary, 1914-1945
, 181-183. 
213
Robert John and Sami Hadawi, 
The Palestine Diary, 1914-1945,
3ed. (New York: New World 
Press, 1970), 265, 270. 
214
John and Hadawi, 288. 

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72
a national homeland (as it was described in the 1917 Balfour Declaration).
215
This was 
again rejected by both the Jewish and Arab populations. It also served as a point of 
contention between British military forces and Jewish militias after 1945. However, the 
onslaught of World War II in 1939 overshadowed the politics of Palestine. The British 
were not in the position to enforce the MacDonald White Paper, and the Arab and Jewish 
communities both realized the need to support Great Britain in defending Palestine 
against attacks from Axis powers. As a result, by 1941, the British had trained over 
16,000 Jewish militiamen to conduct military operations against the Axis powers.
216
When World War II began to wind down in 1944 the British began to experience an 
increase in attacks throughout Palestine, including the assassination of Lord Moyne, the 
British Minister of State on November 6, 1944 by the Stern Gang. However, the newly 
elected British Labour Party continued to endorse the 1939 MacDonald White Paper.
This directly impacted the Haganah’s decision to unite with the Irgun and Stern Gang in 
establishing the United Resistance (UR) to resist anti-Jewish policies of the British 
government in Palestine. The British continued to maintain policies limiting Jewish 
immigration. By 1945, there were over 100,000 British soldiers deployed to Palestine, 
one-tenth of Britain’s armed force, at a cost of over 40 million pounds a year. The British 
military was faced with terrorist attacks conducted by the Jewish militias, especially the 
Irgun and Stern Gang. This was a period of intense counter insurgency operations 
consisting of cordon and searches, individual and mass arrests, trials, incarcerations, 
hangings and even death squads, all of which had absolutely no positive impact on 
stability.
217
British policies of non-engagement with the militias led to increased 
isolation from the population, which led to an increase in attacks against British 
occupation forces. They also failed to find a solution for peace with the Arab and Jewish 
communities during the last three years of their occupation. Ultimately this resulted in 
their failure to maintain control. In 1948, with British casualties increasing, the security 
situation worsening, and Great Britain unable to achieve an agreement with Palestinian 
215
John and Hadawi, 315-320. 
216
Ibid.
, 336. 
217
Martin L. Van Creveld, 
The Sword and The Olive: A Critical History of The Israeli Defense 
Force
, 58-59. 

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Arabs or Jews, the future of Palestine was turned over to the United Nations. On 
November 29, 1947 the U.N. voted to partition Palestine. The following day, the British 
announced their plan for withdrawal from Palestine no later than August 1948. The 
mandate was officially terminated on May 15, 1948. Immediately following, David Ben-
Gurion officially announced the creation of Israel.
218