Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, The Near East and Africa, Volume V

867N.01/2–747: Telegram

The Chargé in the United Kingdom (Gallman) to the Secretary of State

secret

London, February 7, 1947—5 p. m.

850. Beeley gave following outline today of yesterday’s meeting British Delegation and JA Delegation (Embassy’s 819, February 6):¹

1. Meeting followed “familiar pattern” of British Delegation endeavoring to persuade JA Delegation to put a partition plan on table, and of Jews steadfastly refusing to do so.

2. Beeley believes JA Delegation refusal to table plan involves following motives: (a) If JA Delegation tables partition plan, it will be sacrificing part of Palestine; (b) coalition JA Executive includes both partitionists and anti-partitionists between whom measure of agreement lies in fact that JA Delegation will consider partition plan only if someone else proposes it; (c) it is possible JA Delegation cannot agree within itself re frontiers of partition plan which should be put forward in first instance; (d) frontiers drawn to extent of more extreme Jewish demands would look absurd, and might cause case of JA Delegation to be laughed out of court.

3. Creech Jones asked JA Delegation what it wanted by way of immigration and sovereignty. Re immigration, Ben-Gurion’s considered reply was that under mandate JA Delegation wanted immigration to full extent of economic absorptive capacity of Palestine; if Palestine divided Jews must be free to determine rate of immigration into Jewish area without interference or control. Re sovereignty Ben-Gurion said that when mandate is terminated Jews in Palestine must have same independence as any other state. Ben-Gurion indicated that he would prefer British to carry out mandate in accordance with Zionist interpretation of mandate.

4. Bevin said that British Govt will not be responsible for forcing a solution on either Arabs or Jews. He said that if acquiescence is not forthcoming UN must take responsibility for decision.

5. Since British proposals were not ready, a variety of subjects were discussed including effect of Jewish immigration on Arab unemployed and land transfer regulations which Jews attacked bitterly as racial discrimination. In latter connection Beeley said Sir Douglas Harris (Embassy’s 264, January 14)² advised that land transfer regulations were drafted two years before White Paper and promulgated about year afterward; they were purely social and economic measures designed to protect Palestinian Arab cultivator in that they forbade anyone except Palestinian Arab cultivators from buying land. There was no racial discrimination because Syrian and Transjordan Arabs were also precluded from buying land.

6. Beeley got impression that JA Delegation had not closed door to some form of cantonization and that JA Delegation would study British proposals in light of area, freedom of control over immigration and sovereignty.

Gallman

1. Not printed.
2. In telegram 264, January 14, 6 p.m., the Embassy in London notified the Department that Sir Douglas (of the Colonial Office) had been relieved of all other duties to spend full time amassing facts and figures for use if and when partition would be discussed with the Arabs and Jews. (867N.01/1–1447)