British–Zionist conflict

This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (February 2009)

British-Zionist Conflict
Date 1938-1948 (de facto halt during most of World War II) Location British Mandatory Palestine Result British withdrawal Creation of Israel
Belligerents
British Army Royal Navy Royal Air Force Palestine Police Force	Jewish Resistance Movement Haganah Irgun Lehi
Commanders and leaders
Evelyn Barker Lord Moyne   † Alan Cunningham Orde Wingate Harold MacMichael Gordon MacMillan	David Ben-Gurion Menachem Begin David Remez Moshe Sharett Yitzhak Gruenbaum Dov Yosef Avshalom Haviv   † Ze'ev Jabotinsky Ya'akov Meridor Avraham Stern   † Avshalom Haviv   † Dov Gruner   † Yigal Allon Moshe Dayan Eitan Livni Amichai Paglin Avraham Tehomi Yitzhak Shamir
Casualties and losses
996 killed[1]	unknown killed in action 2,755 captured 12 executed

The British–Zionist conflict refers to events which occurred between the publication of the MacDonald White Paper of 1939 and the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, when the British government policy of limiting Jewish immigration to Mandate Palestine led to conflict between the British Empire and Zionist organizations in Palestine, some of which resorted to armed revolt. Within Britain there were deep divisions over Palestine policy. The conflict led to heightened anti-Semitism in the UK and, in August 1947, to widespread anti-Jewish rioting across the UK.^[2] The conflict undermined Britain's relationship with the USA.

Contents 1 The White Paper of 1939 2 Armed conflict and illegal Jewish immigration 3 Haganah joins the conflict 4 The British leave Palestine 5 Partition 6 British policy during the 1948 War 7 Timeline 7.1 1938 7.2 1939 7.3 1942 7.4 1944 7.5 1945 7.6 1946 7.7 1947 7.8 1948 8 See also 9 References 10 General sources 11 External links

[edit] The White Paper of 1939

Although both the Balfour Declaration and the terms of the League of Nations British Mandate of Palestine called for a Jewish National Home in Palestine, the British repudiated any linkage between Palestine and the situation of European Jews.

In 1939, after three years of Arab uprising in Palestine and just month before the outbreak of WWII, the British introduced the 1939 White Paper which allowed for a further 75,000 Jews to migrate to Palestine by 1949 after which the country was to become an independent state with an Arab majority. In response the leader of Palestine's Zionists, Ben-Gurion, issued a call for Jews to "support the British as if there is no White Paper and oppose the White Paper as if there is no war".^[3] Palestinian Jews volunteered in large numbers to serve in the British army, serving mainly in North Africa.

After the Holocaust became common knowledge, the British continued to refused to change their policy or to admit Jews from Nazi controlled Europe. Jews who escaped Nazi Europe with the intention of going to Palestine, (about 2,000) were interned in a British camp in Mauritius.^[4]

It was widely believed that once the war was over the British would change their policy, however this did not occur and the Zionist movement in Palestine increasingly turned towards revolt.

Anglo-Arab relations were of vital importance to British strategic concerns both during the war and after, notably for their access to oil and India. Britain governed Oman, Sudan, Kuwait, the Arab Emirates, Bahrain and the Yemen, had treaties of alliance with Iraq (the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty (1930) and The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1948) and Egypt (Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936). Transjordan was granted independence in 1946 and the Anglo-Jordanian Treaty of 1948 allowed Britain to station troops in Jordan and promised mutual assistance in the event of war.^[5]

[edit] Armed conflict and illegal Jewish immigration

In February 1944 the Irgun, now led by Menachem Begin, ended the wartime truce and began blowing up British offices related to immigration and tax collection.

In November 1944, the Lehi (Stern Gang) assassinated Lord Moyne, the British minister in Cairo. The Jewish Agency Executive condemned terror attacks and called on its members to inform on known members of the Irgun. Leftist Zionist assistance (Irgun were Revisionists, or Political Zionists, at odds with the Labour Zionist movement, known as Practical Zionists) led to the arrest of some 1000 Irgun members, 250 of which were held indefinitely and without trial in internment camps in Eritrea.^[6]

In the meantime, the continued application of the 1939 White Paper forced the Jewish Agency Executive to turn to illegal immigration. Over the next few years in Europe and North Africa, tens of thousands of Jews, many of them Holocaust survivors, sailed in overcrowded boats, despite the almost certain knowledge that it would lead to incarceration in a British prison camp (most boats were caught). The determination of these Jews to leave Europe and the absence of alternative destinations fatally undermined British policy in Palestine.

In Europe former Jewish partisans led by Abba Kovner began to organize escape routes taking Jews from Eastern Europe down to the Mediterranean where the Jewish Agency organized ships to illegally carry them to Palestine.^[7] British officials in the occupied German zones tried to halt Jewish immigration by refusing to recognize the Jews as a national group and demanding that they return to their places of origin.

In order to prevent Jewish illegal migrants reaching Palestine a naval blockade was established to stop boats carrying illegal migrants and there was extensive intelligence gathering and diplomatic pressure on countries through which the migrants were passing or from whose ports the ships were coming.

In 1945, US President Harry S. Truman sent a personal representative, Earl G. Harrison, to investigate the situation of the Jewish survivors in Europe. Harrison reported that

substantial unofficial and unauthorized movements of people must be expected, and these will require considerable force to prevent, for the patience of many of the persons involved is, and in my opinion with justification, nearing the breaking point. It cannot be overemphasized that many of these people are now desperate, that they have become accustomed under German rule to employ every possible means to reach their end, and that the fear of death does not restrain them.^[8]

The Harrisson report changed US policy in the occupied zones, and US policy increasingly focussed on helping Jews escape Eastern Europe.

[edit] Haganah joins the conflict

After the 1945 British election, the new Labour Foreign Minister, Ernest Bevin, decided to maintain the policy of restricting Jewish immigration to Palestine.

In October 1945, the Haganah entered into an alliance with the Irgun and ceased cooperation with the British.

In April 1946 the Anglo-American Committee of Enquiry reported that given a chance, half a million Jews would immigrate to Palestine:

In Poland, Hungary and Roumania, the chief desire is to get out… …The vast majority of the Jewish displaced persons and migrants, however, believe that the only place which offers a prospect is Palestine".^[9]

A survey of Jewish DPs found 96.8% would choose Palestine.^[10] The Anglo-American Committee recommended that 100,000 Jews be immediately admitted into Palestine.

Despite British government promises to abide by the committee's decision, the British decided to persist with a ban on Jewish migration.

In June 1946, as part of Operation Agatha, in events known as the Black Sabbath, the British raided the Jewish Agency headquarters in Jerusalem, confiscating large amounts of paperwork, and arrested Jews suspected of being involved with "terrorism", including leading members of the Jewish Agency, holding them without trial.^[11] In response, the leadership of the Haganah, through the Jewish Resistance Movement, organized various acts, including the King David Hotel bombing carried out by the Irgun (the main branches of the civil and military administration of Palestine were located in the King David Hotel).^[12] The British Empire frequently used emergency regulations to hold people in concentration camps without trial.^[13]

The following week four ships carrying 6,000 illegal immigrants arrived in Haifa, completely overflowing the temporary prison for illegal migrants at Atlit.^[14] The British government decided to intern all illegal immigrants on Cyprus (without trial).

In October 1946, in fulfillment of the recommendation of the Anglo-American Committee, Britain decided to allow a further 96,000 Jews into Palestine at a rate of 1,500 a month. Half this monthly quota was allocated to Jews in the prisons on Cyprus.

[edit] The British leave Palestine

From October 1946, opposition leader, Winston Churchill, began calling for Palestine to be given to the UN.^[15]

In January 1947, all British civilians were evacuated from Palestine.

Britain was at this time negotiating a loan from the United States vital to its economic survival. Its treatment of Jewish survivors generated bad publicity and encouraged the US Congress to stiffen its terms. The post-war conflict in Palestine caused more damage to US-British relations than any other issue.^[16]

In 1947 the United States chapter of the United Jewish Appeal raised 150 million dollars in its annual appeal – at that time the largest sum of money ever raised by a charity dependent on private contributions. Half was earmarked for Palestine. The Times reported that Palestine brought more dollars into the sterling zone than any other country, save Britain.^[17]

In April 1947 the issue was formally referred to the UN. By this time over 100,000 British soldiers were stationed in Palestine. Referral to the UN led to a period of uncertainty over Palestine's future. A United Nations special committee (UNSCOP) investigated the problem and recommended solutions.

In May a large break-out was staged by 200 Jewish prisoners at the main high-security prison in Palestine at Acre. In June a number of Irgun member were sentenced to death; Irgun responded to the sentencing by kidnapping a number of British officers and promised to kill them if its members were hanged. On July 29, 1947 the three Irgun members were executed and the next day the two British Sergeants were killed in response. Following this incident there were anti-Jewish riots in Liverpool over the course of several days which spread to other major British cities, including London, Manchester, Cardiff, Derby and Glasgow.^[18][19]

Following this incident the British government decided to return one ship, the Exodus-1947, to its port of origin in France instead of imprisoning the 4,500 passengers on Cyprus. The passengers refused to disembark, spending weeks in difficult conditions. They were eventually forcibly removed at Hamburg and returned to DP camps. The event became a major media event, influencing UN deliberations and exacerbating the already poor relationship between Britain and the Jews.^[19]

[edit] Partition

The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine recommended partition, and on 29 November 1947 the United Nations General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into two states. The partition resolution (181) intended administration of Palestine to be in the hands of five UN representatives and assumed free Jewish immigration into the Jewish area even before the creation of a Jewish state:

The mandatory power shall use its best endeavours to ensure that an area situated in the territory of the Jewish state, including a seaport and hinterland adequate to provide facilities for a substantial immigration, shall be evacuated at the earliest possible date and in any event not later then 1 February 1948.^[20]

Britain refused to comply with these conditions on the grounds that the decision was unacceptable to the Arabs. It neither allowed Jewish immigration outside the monthly quota nor granted control to the UN representatives (who became known as the "five lonely pilgrims"). A statement issued by the British Ambassador to the UN stated that the inmates on Cyprus would be released with the termination of the mandate.^[21]

Over the remaining period of British rule, British policy was to ensure that the Arabs did not resist Britain or blame it for partition. Convinced that partition was unworkable, the British refused to assist the UN in any way that might require British forces to remain on Palestinian soil (to implement it) or turn their army into a target for Arab forces. The Chiefs of Staff in particular, believed they needed the Arabs on their side. Already embroiled in a war against the Jews, they were concerned not to get involved in a war with both sides while trying to withdraw and feared for their extensive Middle Eastern interests.^{[citation needed]}

On 22/2/48 men wearing British uniforms, either British deserters working for the Arab Liberation Army or Arabs wearing stolen uniforms, detonated a truck laden with explosives in Ben-Yehuda street in Jerusalem, killing about 60 people.

[edit] British policy during the 1948 War

In April 1948 the Security Council called upon all governments to prevent fighting personnel or arms from entering Palestine.^[22]

British rule of Palestine formally ended on 15 May 1948 and the State of Israel was declared, leading to war with several Arab states. Despite this, Britain agreed to release only Cyprus inmates of non-military age. 8,000 men between the ages of 18 and 45 were kept in captivity. 3,000 women refused to leave the Cyprus camps without their menfolk (and had 822 babies before being released).^{[citation needed]}

Britain did release the 250 men held in Kenya as terrorists.^{[citation needed]}

On 28 May 1948 the Security Council debated Palestine. The British proposed that the entry of arms and men of military age into Palestine should be restricted. At the request of the USA, the ban was extended to the whole region. A French amendment allowed immigration so long as soldiers were not recruited from immigrants.^[23] Britain cited this resolution as the justification for its refusal to release the Jews imprisoned on Cyprus.^{[citation needed]}

The British Cabinet decided that action could be taken to defend Transjordan, but that under no circumstances would British troops enter Palestine.

Through out the 1948 war, 40 British officers served with the Jordanian Army and the Jordanian army commander was a British General, John Glubb.

On 17 January 1949 the British Chief of Staff briefed the cabinet on events in the Middle East. The cabinet voted to continue supporting the Arab states, but also voted to recognize Israel and release the Jews from Cyprus.^[24] The last immigrants left in late January and shortly after they left, Britain formally recognized Israel.^[25]

[edit] Timeline

[edit] 1938

• April 12 - 2 British policemen and 2 Arabs were killed by an Irgun bomb in a train in Haifa.^[26]
• June 29 - Irgun member Shlomo Ben-Yosef was executed by the British.

[edit] 1939

• June 12 - A British bomb expert was killed trying to defuse an Irgun bomb near a Jerusalem post office.
• August 27 - 2 British officers were killed by an Irgun mine in Jerusalem.^[26]

[edit] 1942

• February 12 - Lehi leader Avraham Stern was shot and killed by British detectives in Tel Aviv.

[edit] 1944

• February 12 - Several British immigration offices were attacked by Irgun. Two weeks later, the British income tax office in Jerusalem was bombed.
• July 13 - The Irgun bombed a building on Malmilla street.
• September 27 - 150 Irgun fighters led by Rahamim Cohen, Amichai Paglin, and Yaakov Hillel raided four British police stations. During one of the raids, a British soldier and an Irgun fighter were killed.^{[unreliable source?]}
• September 29 - A senior British police officer of the Criminal Intelligence Department was assassinated by Irgun in Jerusalem.^[27]
• November 6 - Lehi fighters Eliyahu Bet-Zuri and Eliyahu Hakim killed British politician Lord Moyne and his driver in Cairo.

[edit] 1945

• March 22 - Lehi members Eliyahu Bet-Zuri and Eliyahu Hakim were hanged in Cairo.
• April 23 - An Irgun operation in the Police Tegart fort failed, and gunfights broke out. One Irgun member was killed, and his body was later hanged on the fort's fence. Another Irgun fighter was killed when an explosive device fell out of his hand, and he lept on it to save his comrades.^[28]
• August 14 - Irgun fighters overpowered and disarmed two British sentries, and then blew up the Yibne Railway Bridge.^[29]
• November 1 - Night of the Trains - Haganah fighters sabotaged railroads used by the British, and sunk three British guard boats. At the same time, an Irgun unit led by Eitan Livni raided a train station in Lod, exchanged fire, and blew up a number of buildings and three train engines. One Irgun fighter, two British soldiers, and four Arabs were killed.
• December 27 - Irgun fighters raided and bombed British Intelligence Offices in Jerusalem. A total 7 British policemen and 2 Irgun fighters were killed. Irgun fighters assaulted an Army camp in Northern Tel Aviv. In the exchange of fire, a British soldier was killed. An Irgun fighter was also killed, and five others injured.^[30]

[edit] 1946

• February 22 - Haganah fighters attacked the Police Tegart fort with a 200 lb bomb. In the firefight that followed, Haganah suffered casualties.^[31]
• February 26 - Irgun and Lehi fighters attacked three British airfields, and destroyed dozens of aircraft. One Irgun fighter was killed.^[32]
• March 6 - A military truck carrying 30 Irgun fighters disguised as British soldiers approached a British army camp at Sarafand, where the fighters infiltrated into the armory and began loading crates of weapons onto the truck. A British soldier noticed this, and an exchange of fire followed. During the fighting, commander Eliyahu Tamler detonated a mine which destroyed the remaining weapons and ammunition in the armory, and the truck then drove off at high speed. Two wounded fighters, Yosef Simchon and Michael Ashbel, were later captured, along with two female fighters.^[33]
• April 2 - Irgun launched a sabotage operation against the railway network in the south, inflicting severe damage. However, the retreating fighters were surrounded after being spotted by a British reconnaissance aircraft. A total of 2 British policemen were killed, and 3 British soldiers were wounded. 2 Irgun fighters were also killed, 4 others wounded, and 31 arrested.^[34]
• April 25 - Lehi attacked a lightly guarded military car park, killing 7 British soldiers of the 5th Scottish Parachute Battalion.^[35]
• June 16–17 - Night of the bridges - Haganah carried out a sabotage operation, blowing up ten of the eleven bridges connecting British Mandatory Palestine to the neighboring countries. Haganah suffered 14 casualties in the operation.^[36]
• June 17 - Lehi attacked railroad workshops in Haifa. 11 Lehi members were killed during the attack.^[37]
• June 18 - Irgun fighters took a number of British officers as hostages, and released them after the death sentences of two Irgun fighters were commuted.
• June 29 - Operation Agatha - British forces mounted a military and police operation, which resulted in the arrest of 2,718 Jews, the confiscation of a large number of documents from the Jewish Agency and the confiscation of numerous arms and munitions which were found unexpectedly.
• July 22 - King David Hotel bombing - The Irgun bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. 91 people died as a result, the majority being Arabs. 28 British soldiers, policemen, and civilians were killed.^[38]
• October 30 - The Irgun bombed the railway station in Jerusalem, in the process, killing an Arab policeman who tried to intervene.
• October 31 - The British embassy in Rome was bombed by the Irgun.
• December 28 - The sentence was carried out on an Irgunist sentenced to be lashed eighteen times.
• December 29 - Night of the Beatings - Irgun fighters kidnapped and beat numerous British soldiers in retaliation. The British responded by ordering all their soldiers back into army camps, and setting up roadblocks. A car with five armed Irgun men, who were carrying a whip, was caught. British soldiers opened fire, killing Irgun fighter Avraham Mizrahi, with the rest being captured.^[39]

[edit] 1947

• January 12 - Lehi bombed a police station in Haifa, killing 4 and wounding 140.
• March 1 - Irgun bombed the Officers Club on King George Street in Jerusalem, killing 17 British officers and wounding 27.^[40]
• April 19 - Irgun members Dov Gruner, Yehiel Dresner, Mordechai Alkahi, and Eliezer Kashani were hanged by the British.
• March 12 - Irgun attacked a police station, killing 13 and wounding 53. Irgun also attacked the Schneller Camp, killing one British soldier and wounding eight.
• May 4 - Acre Prison break - Irgun members working with Jewish prisoners inside Acre Prison managed to blow a hole in the wall, and assault the prison, freeing 28 Jewish prisoners. Irgun commander Dov Cohen, two Irgun fighters, and six escapees were killed in the raid.^[41] Five of the fighters and eight escapees were also captured.
• May 6 - A British counter-terrorism unit led by Roy Farran abducted 16 year-old Lehi member Alexander Rubowitz, later torturing and killing him.^[42]
• June 28 - Two Jewish fighters fired machine gunss into a restaurant in Haifa while British officers were dining there, killing a British officer of the 6th Airborne Division, and wounding two others. The remaining officers took up fight, forcing the Jews to flee. One was wounded during the escape.^[43]
• July 29–30 - The Sergeants affair - The British executed by hanging Irgun commanders Avshalom Haviv, Yaakov Weiss, and Meir Nakar. In retaliation, the Irgun hanged two hostages, British intelligence corps sergeants Mervyn Paice and Clifford Martin, afterwards re-hanging their bodies from trees in a eucalyptus grove near Netanya. A booby-trap improvised mine laid underneath exploded, injuring a British sapper officer, while they were being cut down.^[44][45] British soldiers and policemen stationed in Tel Aviv were enraged, and later attacked Jewish civilians, smashed windows, and fired into a crowded bus, killing five Jews and wounding fifteen.^[46][47]
• September 3 - A postal bomb sent by either Irgun or Lehi exploded in the post office sorting room of the British War Office in London, injuring 2.^[48]
• September 26 - Irgun fighters robbed a bank, killing 4 British policemen.^[49]
• December 29 - 2 British constables and 11 Arabs were killed, and 32 Arabs wounded, when Irgun members threw a bomb from a taxi at Damascus Gate.^[50]

[edit] 1948

• January 7 - A British officer was killed by Jewish militants near Hebron.^[50]
• February 29 - Cairo-Haifa train bombings 1948 - Lehi fighters mined a train being used by the British North of Rehovot, killing 28 British soldiers and wounding 35.^[51]
• April 6 - Irgun fighters led by Ya'akov Meridor raided the British Army camp at Pardes Hanna, killing 6 British soldiers and their commanding officer.^[52]
• April 20 - Jewish snipers attacked British soldiers and policemen throughout Haifa. Five Jewish snipers were killed. Two British policemen and a British soldier were wounded.^[53]
• May 3 - A Lehi book bomb posted to the parental home of Roy Farran, who had led the counter-terrorism unit which killed Lehi member Alexander Rubowitz in May 1947, was opened by his brother Rex, killing him.^[42]

[edit] See also

Suez Crisis Israel-United Kingdom relations

[edit] References

[edit] General sources

• Yehuda Bauer, Out of the Ashes: The Impact of American Jews on Post-Holocaust European Jewry (Oxford: Pergamon 1989)
• Yehuda Bauer, Flight and Rescue: Brichah, (Random House; New York 1970)
• Zeev Hadari, Second Exodus: The Full Story of Jewish Illegal Immigration to Palestine 1945-1948 (London: Valentine Mitchell 1991)
• Arieh Kochavi, Post-Holocaust Politics: Britain, the United States and Jewish Refugees 1945-1948 (Chapel-Hill: University of North Carolina Press 2001)
• Trygve Lie, In the Cause of Peace, Seven Years with the United Nations (New York: MacMillan 1954)
• Tony Kushner (academic), The Persistence of Prejudice: Antisemitism in British society during the Second World War (Manchester: Manchester University Press 1989).
• Menachem Begin, The Revolt, 1951.

[edit] External links

DP conditions: http://bcrfj.revues.org/document269.html Jews on Cyprus: http://news.pseka.net/index.php?module=article&id=8199 DP camps (personal accounts): http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/orphans/english/themes/pdf/the_dp.pdf

• http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312712/Tq03/PAGES%20ONLY/DP%20Good.htm