Mandate: The Palestine Crucible, 1919-1939

When Britain took on the Mandate for Palestine in 1920 it never imagined the problems it would face. The Government fondly believed that few objections would be raised by the Arabs when they made commitments to a homeland for the Jews in Palestine. Instead, during the next twenty years, Arabs and Jews fought between themselves and against the British Administration. The Government was stuck in the middle between warring parties. Strong reservations were expressed in Parliament and in the press about the wisdom of its’ Middle East adventure and the last thing the Government needed was another burden in Palestine.

Here Turnberg answers the following questions: why did Britain maintain its Mandatory Authority when it brought little but headache; how did the Zionists’ vision survive those years when the Jews were outnumbered ten to one by Arabs intent on keeping them out; and why did the Palestinian Arabs not gain their independence when many in neighbouring countries did?

Israel’s creation relied upon Balfour’s Declaration and the world-wide revulsion felt when news of the holocaust was revealed in 1945. However, Turnberg describes here how the third critical factor in the survival of Zionist dreams was British support during the first twenty years of the Mandate. He analyses, in a clear and accessible way, the machinations in Government, the personalities involved and the reasons why the Jews gained their homeland against seemingly insuperable odds.