Britain’s Hegemony in Palestine and the Middle East, 1917-56: Changing Strategic Imperatives

345 Pages·2017·12.409 MB·English

by  Michael J. Cohen

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Michael J. Cohen is Emeritus This is a fine book of historical essays. Of special significance are Cohen’s a B From the Balfour Declaration of
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Professor of History at Bar-Ilan assessments – and in part, re-assessments – of the Balfour Declaration, Churchill’s r 1917 to the Suez Crisis of 1956
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University in Israel. He wrote his and Truman’s attitude toward the Jews and Zionism, and Palestinian leader Haj t it Britain’s Hegemony in Britain’s strategic interests in
Ph.D. under the supervision of the Amin al-Husseini’s evasion of punishment as a Nazi war criminal in 1945–1947. h a Palestine and in the Middle
late Elie Kedourie. He held the Historians and students of the Arab–Zionist conflict can both derive benefit from e i Palestine and the Middle East East underwent radical changes.
Lazarus Philips Chair of History at Cohen’s insights. M n Professor Michael J. Cohen, a
Bar-Ilan from 1990 to 2008, when ’
Professor Benny Morris, Ben-Gurion University s leading authority on the British
he retired. He has been Visiting i 1917–56
Professor at the Universities of d Mandate in Palestine and the rise
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Duke, Stanford and UBC, Vancouver, This important book of essays will provide further food for thought for readers who d of the state of Israel, focuses on
a Member of the Institute for wish to look at the self-interest, both personal and national, behind the decisions of l e Changing Strategic Imperatives these changing interests in this
Advanced Study at Princeton and a the decision makers. e g anthology of some of his seminal
Research Fellow at the London Colin Shindler, Emeritus Professor, SOAS, University of London. e works. This book includes previ-
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School of Economics. His last book, ously unpublished material and
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Britain’s Moment in Palestine, a an introductory chapter surveying
Retrospect and Perspectives, 1917– s o the changing views and interpre-
1948, was published in 2014. A full t n tations of the Declaration over
Praise for Professor’s Cohen’s last book Britain’s Moment in Palestine: Retrospect
list of his books appears at the front
and Perspectives, 1917–48 1 y the past 100 years.
of this book.
9 Britain’s imperial interests are
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Superbly researched and meticulously written, this book is the result of extensive n the key to understanding these
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research on the history of the Palestine mandate from the Balfour Declaration
P changes, why she supported the
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(1917) to the establishment of the state of Israel (1948). In nearly 500 pages, he
Jacket illustrations: Arthur James Balfour a Zionist cause until the mid-1930s
provides an extensive account about Britain’s changing policy in Palestine and how –
and Chaim Weizmann. 5 l and why her priorities changed
it contributed to the Arab–Zionist conflict. A ‘must read’ for students and scholars e thereafter. After the Second
of British imperialism in the Middle East between the two World Wars. 6
s World War her priorities changed
Choice, April 2015 t once again and Allied strategic
i
n planners drew up contingency
By adhering to the high standards for archival research and historiography set by e plans to meet the threat of a
his mentor, the late Elie Kedourie, Michael J. Cohen asserts a strong scholarly claim potential Third World War against
to being the foremost contemporary expert on the pre-1948 origins of the
the Soviet bloc. This anthology
protracted and seemingly unending Arab–Jewish struggle … Britain’s Moment in
closes with an analysis of the
Palestine is to be recommended as indispensable political background reading, and
botched Suez War. This caused
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its author commended for setting straight so many parts of the historical record.
not only the failure of the military
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Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, 2015, Vol. 9 c operation, but a grave crisis with
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the Americans, Eden’s fall from
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power, and the dénouement of
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Britain’s Middle East hegemony.
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J Professor Cohen’s essays are
. essential reading for anyone

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wanting a clear understanding of
Michael J. Cohen
o the Middle Eastern context of
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ISBN 978 1 910383 21 6 the Palestine Mandate, and the
VALLENTINE MITCHELL e
rise of the State of Israel during
Catalyst House 920 NE 58th Avenue n
this period.
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VALLENTINE www.vmbooks.com VALLENTINE
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MITCHELL ISBN 978 1 910383 21 6
On the Centenary of the Balfour Declaration
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BRITAIN’S HEGEMONY IN PALESTINE
AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, 1917–56
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Works by the Same Author
Britain’s Moment in Palestine: Retrospect and Perspectives, 1917–48 (2014);
paperback edition (2015)
Strategy and Politics in the Middle East, 1954–1960: Defending the Northern
Tier(2005)
Fighting World War Three from the Middle East: Allied Contingency Plans,
1945–1954(1997); Hebrew edition (1998)
Truman and Israel(1990)
The Origins of the Arab-Zionist Conflict, 1914–1948 (1987); paperback
edition (1989)
Palestine to Israel: From Mandate to Independence(1988)
Churchill and the Jews(1985); revised paperback edition (2003)
Palestine and the Great Powers, 1945–1948(1982); paperback edition (1986)
Palestine: Retreat from the Mandate, 1936–1945(1978)
Edited Books
The Demise of Empire: Britain’s Responses to Nationalist Movements in the
Middle East, 1943–1955, with Martin Kolinsky (1998)
Britain and the Middle East in the 1930s: Security Problems, 1935–1939, with
Martin Kolinsky (1992)
Bar-Ilan Studies in Modern History, vol. 3 (1991)
The History of the Founding of Israel, Part 3: The Struggle for the State of Israel,
1939–1948,12 vols (1988)
The Weizmann Letters, vols 20 and 21, 1936–45 (1979)
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Britain’s Hegemony
in Palestine and in
the Middle East,
1917–56
Changing Strategic Imperatives
Michael J. Cohen
VALLENTINE MITCHELL
LONDON • PORTLAND, OR
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First published in 2017 by Vallentine Mitchell
Catalyst House, 920 NE 58th Avenue, Suite 300
720 Centennial Court, Portland, Oregon
Centennial Park, Elstree WD6 3SY, UK 97213-3786 USA
www.vmbooks.com
Copyright © 2017 Michael J. Cohen
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data:
An entry can be found on request
ISBN 978 1 910383 21 6(cloth)
ISBN 978 1 910383 22 3(Ebook)
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data:
An entry can be found on request
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, reading or otherwise, without the prior permis-
sion of Vallentine Mitchell & Co. Ltd.
Printed by Clays Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk
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For my beloved
children and grandchildren
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Examples of pitiless authority and robotic
obedience abound in our society and are
the essence of tragedy.
Len Deighton, 1971
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Contents
List of Maps ix
Acknowledgements xi
List of Abbreviations and Glossary xiii
Introduction 1
1. The Centenary of the Balfour Declaration 7
2. Was the Balfour Declaration at Risk in 1923? Zionism and
British Imperialism 21
3. Zionism and British Imperialism, Part 2: Imperial Financing
and Palestine 47
4. The Strange Case of the Palestine White Paper, 1930 81
5. The Palestine–Egypt Nexus: 1935–39 107
6. The Churchill–Gilbert Symbiosis: Myth and Reality 119
7. Haj Amin al-Husayni, Muftiof Jerusalem: History
and Propaganda 143
8. From ‘Cold’ to ‘Hot’ War: Allied Strategic and Military
Interests in the Middle East afterthe SecondWorld War 165
9. Intelligence, Morality and Realpolitik: Why Didn’t the
British Bring the Mufti of Jerusalem to Trial as a
War Criminal after the SecondWorld War? 193
10. The End of the Mandate: The Zionist Perspective 231
11. Colonel WilliamA.Eddy, the Oil Lobby and the
Palestine Problem 257
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viii Britain’s Hegemony in Palestine and in the Middle East, 1917-56
12. A New Look at Truman and the Exodus 1947 273
13. Prologue to Suez: Anglo-American Planning for
Military Intervention in a Middle East War, 1955–56 281
14. Politics and Military Planning: The Eden Administration
and the Generals – Suez, 1956 308
Select Bibliography 326
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Maps
i. The Palestine Mandate, 1920–48(chapter 1) 11
ii. Sandown: The British Plan for the Defence of the
Middle East against a Soviet Offensive, August 1948 (chapter 8) 179
iii. The UN Partition Plan Palestine, November 1947(chapter 10) 242
iv. The Ceasefire Lines after the First Arab–Israeli war, April 1949
(chapter 10) 253