70
Roughly three years later, on August 10, 1920, Turkey officially ceded its
authority over Palestine to the League of Nations. The League then passed sovereign
jurisdiction of Palestine to Great Britain in the form of a League of Nations Mandate.
209
By 1920, Arab grievances had percolated over issues such as immigration, land
ownership, establishment of a Jewish government, and religious differences. This
resulted in a number of violent attacks against the Yishuv (Jewish settlements) with little
intervention from thinly spread British security forces. Jews
began to realize that they
could not rely on the British government or local Arab police to protect them. Thus they
began to look to the political arm of the Jewish community for local security.
The Zionist Commission, later know as the Jewish (Executive) Agency,
represented the interests of Jewish immigrants Palestine. Established in March 1918 by
the Dr. Chaim Weizman, it was designed “to form a link between the British authorities
and the Jewish population of Palestine and to help in establishing friendly relations with
the Arabs and other non-Jewish communities.”
210
However, it was not officially
recognized until the League of Nations Mandate of 1922
stated that
An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognised as a public body for the
purpose of advising and co-operating with the Administration of Palestine
in such economic, social and other matters as may affect the establishment
of the Jewish national home and the interests of the Jewish population in
Palestine, and, subject always to the control of the Administration to assist
and take part in the development of the country.
211
In response
to increasing insecurity, the Jewish Agency oversaw the establishment of the
Haganah militia in 1920. Haganah would continue operating as a militia force from 1920
to 1948 and as the military arm of the Jewish Agency. The more radical Irgun Zvai
Leumi militia broke off from it in 1931, as did the Stern Gang (also known as Lehi and
the Stern Group) in 1940. At independence in 1948 Haganah would become the Israeli
Defense Force.
209
Sumner Welles,
We Need Not Fail,
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1948), 2, 46.
210
Welles, 24-25.
211
Ami Isseroff, “Zionism and Israel,” Zionism and Israel
Information Center, http://www.zionism-
israel.com/dic/Jewish_Agency.htm (accessed December 15, 2007).
71
The British issued a White Paper in 1922 (the Churchill Memorandum), which
reaffirmed the Balfour Declaration while attempting to limit future Jewish immigration
and establish a framework for fair representation of the Arab population, culture and
language in Palestine. The White Paper was grudgingly accepted by the Jewish Agency
in the hope that it would lead Palestinian Arabs to accept the Balfour Declaration.
However, Palestinian Arabs did not accept the Declaration, and the White Paper of 1922
then became a source of strain in relations between the
Jewish population and the
occupying military.
212
Prior to 1936, there was a limited policy of engagement between Jewish militias
and British forces stationed in Palestine. However, Britain would be forced to rely
heavily on indigenous security forces in Palestine shortly after their occupation. After
World War I, Britain’s was thinly spread throughout the Middle East. They faced a
massive draw down of military forces while simultaneously acquiring large swaths of
terrain that resulted from post-World War I treaties. Since Palestine was just a
microcosm of
their territorial gains, the British were immediately faced with overcoming
a shortage of personnel needed to maintain security between the Arab and Jewish
population.
The continued inability of the British government to find a solution that was
acceptable to both the Arab and Jewish communities ultimately led to an Arab insurgency
that lasted from1936 to 1939. In August 1936 the British government established the
Peel Commission to “ascertain the underlying causes of the disturbances.” In July 1937
it recommended a partition of Palestine between the Arab and Jewish populations.
213
This was rejected by Palestinian Arabs and hotly debated by Jews. Meanwhile, the
British government concluded that the financial and administrative
difficulties were so
great that it could not be implemented.
214
Instead, it issued the MacDonald White Paper
in May 1939, limiting Jewish immigration, land ownership and the right to call Palestine
212
Walter Laqueur,
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