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Britain and the Arab-Israeli War of 1948

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Britain and the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 Britainand the Arab Israeli War Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/16/4/50/161179/2536720.pdf by guest on 02 June 2020 of 1948 Avi Shlaim* At midnighton 14 May 1948, the Britishhigh commissioner for Palestineleft Palestine with all hisstaff, and twenty-eight years of British responsibilityfor Palestine came to an end. The storybegan with the BalfourDeclaration of November 1917 followed in April1920 by the San Remoconference's entrusting ofBritain with the Mandate for Palestine, so thatit wouldbe administeredaccording to the termsof the Balfour Declarationand preparedfor self-government. The way in whichthe mandatewas established left a terribleblot on Britain'sentire record as the greatpower responsible for governing the country. And therewas, to say theleast, something unusual about the way in which Britain retreated from themandate. As ReesWilliams, undersecretary ofstate for the colonies, toldthe House of Commons: "On the14th May, 1949, the withdrawal of theBritish Administration took place without handing over to a responsible authorityany of the assets, property or liabilitiesof the Mandatory Power. The mannerin whichthe withdrawal took place is unprecedentedin the historyof our Empire.' Whatwere the reasonsbehind the inexcusablyabrupt and reckless fashionin whichthe Britishgovernment chose to divestitself of the * Avi Shlaimis a Readerin Politicsat theUniversity of Reading, England. This paperwas preparedfor theconference on "BritishSecurity Policy 1945-1956" at King'sCollege, London, 25-26 March1987. The authorwould like to thankthe Economicand Social ResearchCouncil and the FordFoundation forresearch support. BRITAINAND THE ARAB-ISRAELIWAR OF 1948 51 Mandatefor Palestine? Very different answers are givento thisquestion by thetwo nations most directly affected by the British decision. On theJewish sidethe predominant view is thatBritain departed with full knowledge that the surroundingArab countrieswould immediatelyattack and in the expectationthat the Jewish population of Palestinewould be massacredor driveninto the sea. Zionisthistoriography is riddled with suspicions of dark plots hatchedduring the twilightof Britishrule in Palestine.A typical exampleis JonKimche's claim that the ForeignOffice, the chiefsof staff, Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/16/4/50/161179/2536720.pdf by guest on 02 June 2020 and the Palestineadministration wanted to see thephysical destruction of theJewish national home and encouragedthe Arabs to carryit out: "These men were determined,if the Britishhad to leave Palestine,to put no obstaclesin the wayof the Arabsdriving the Jews into the sea."2 Richard Crossmanlent his authorityto thisZionist charge and explainedthe Labor government'sPalestine policy largely in termsof the allegedlyanti-Jewish bias of itsforeign secretary: Once it hasbeen decided to endthe mandate, Bevin's aim, apparently, wasto ensure that Abdullah's Arab Legion should over-run most of Palestine, leavinga rumpJewish state, so weakthat it would throw itself at themercy of theBritish Government.3 The Palestine Arabs, on the other hand, believed that Britain's sympathieslay with the Zionistsand saw the creationof the stateof Israel as the culminationof the process that had begun with the Balfour Declaration.Particularly sinister in the eyes of the Palestinianswas the combinationof the UnitedNations partition resolution of 29 November 1947and the British withdrawal six months later. As WalidKhalidi pointed out: Sincethe UN had notprovided for an internationalforce to implementits resolution,the British decision to withdraw was an invitationto bothsides to fightitout. Given the balance of power inside Palestine, which was crushingly in favourof theZionists-a fact of which all partieswere well aware-the Britishwithdrawal was an open invitation for a Zionistmilitary take-over ofthe country. Moreover,British presence in the remainingsix monthsof the mandate "acted virtuallyas a shieldagainst external Arab help behindwhich the Zionistmilitary forces could conduct their business." Another feature of the Britishwithdrawal plan, according to Khalidi,played into Zionist hands, as it was expectedto do: "the patternof Britishwithdrawal, even when it affectedthe areas of Arab concentration, merely increased the fragmentation 52 JOURNALOF PALESTINESTUDIES of the Arabscene while it furtheredthe cumulativeconsolidation and extensionof Jewish power."4 On 14 May 1948,the last day of the mandate, the chief secretary of the Britishadministration called a pressconference in his officein Jerusalem. Afterlistening to Sir HenryGurney's account of the achievementsof His Majesty'sgovernment in the countryand the unhappycircumstances that led to the terminationof the mandate,one of the assembledjournalists Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/16/4/50/161179/2536720.pdf by guest on 02 June 2020 asked:"And to whomdo youintend to givethe keys to youroffice?" "I shall leavethem under the mat," was the chief secretary's reply-"a fitting epitaph," saysKhalidi, "to perhapsthe shabbiest regime in Britishcolonial history."5 The Zionistand the Palestinianversions of Britain'spolicy during the finalphase of the mandateare clearlypoles apart. What theyhave in commonis the assumptionthat the mannerin which Britainchose to terminatethe mandateinevitably led to an armedclash betweenthe local parties.But whereasthe Zionistsbelieved that the Britishwere bent on theirdestruction, the Palestinianswere no less convincedthat the British werebehind the Zionistdrive to capturemost of Palestine and turnit into a Jewishstate. Another feature which these two conflicting versions have in commonis thatthey cannot be sustainedin theface of the official British documentsthat have been declassifiedunder the thirty-yearrule. It is not thatthe truthlies somewherebetween these two extremepoints of view. Nor is fallingbetween two stools proof of impartiality, as British officials are wont to claim. Rather,as will be arguedhere, the motivesand aims of Britain'spolicymakers in 1948were utterly different from those attributed to them in eitherZionist or Palestinianhistoriography. The truthof the matteris thatin 1948 Britaindid not pursue either an anti-Zionistpolicy or an anti-Arabpolicy but a pro-Britishone. The controllingconsideration behindBritish policy was how to limitthe damageto the interestsof the BritishEmpire that was boundto resultfrom relinquishing direct control overPalestine. In otherwords, Britain's policy during the 1948 Arab-Israeli warwas essentiallyan exercisein damagecontrol. In the MiddleEast as a wholethere were vital strategic and economic interestsat stake.As ErnestBevin put it in one of his manypapers to the cabinet:"In peace andwar the Middle East is an areaof cardinal importance to the United Kingdom,second only to the United Kingdomitself. Strategicallythe MiddleEast is a focalpoint of communications,a source of oil, a shield of Africaand the Indian Ocean, and an irreplaceable offensivebase."6 The retentionof Britain'sposition and influencein the MiddleEast was consideredby the chiefsof staff in January1947 as one of the three vital props of their entiredefense structure, alongside the BRITAINAND THE ARAB-ISRAELIWAR OF 1948 53 protectionof the UnitedKingdom itself and the maintenanceof sea communications.Palestine was of crucial importance inthis general scheme ofimperial defense. It wasdeemed essential to holdit as a screenfor the defenseof Egypt,which would have been Britain'skey position in the MiddleEast in timeof war.In peace,since Britain had undertakento withdrawfrom Egypt, it was imperative tobe ableto use Palestine as a base forthe mobile reserve of troops kept to meetemergencies throughout the Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/jps/article-pdf/16/4/50/161179/2536720.pdf by guest on 02 June 2020 MiddleEast. The chiefsof staff did not express preference for any of the politicalsolutions under consideration, except to pointout that if one of thetwo communities had to be antagonizedthen, from the strictly military angle,it waspreferable that a solutionbe foundthat did not involve the continuinghostility of theArabs; for in thatevent Britain's difficulties wouldnot have been confinedto Palestinebut wouldhave extended throughoutthe Middle East and the Islamic world.7 Whileeverybody was agreedupon the need to retainBritain's para- mountposition in theMiddle East, very different solutions were canvassed withregard to thefuture of Palestine. Prime Minister Clement Attlee was ofthe opinion that the sensible course was simply to relinquish the mandate andleave Palestine. Like Churchill at theend of the war, he wantedto rid Britainof the costly, painful, and thanklesstask of maintaining law and orderin Palestine.Attlee thought that the chiefs of staff exaggerated the importanceofPalestine as a linkin thedefenses of the Mediterranean and theSuez Canal and in safeguarding Britain's oil supplies. He alsoprofoundly disagreedwith the contention of Chief of the Imperial Staff Field-Marshal Montgomerythat Pax Britannicacould be maintainedin Palestineby Britishbayonets. To a muchgreater extent than Bevin, Attlee recognized thatthe diminution ofBritish power made it necessary to cuttheir losses in Palestine,as theyhad done in India. The otherpossible course would have been to acceptthe principle of partitioningPalestine into two independent states, one Jewishand one Arab.This courseenjoyed considerable support in the cabinetand the Laborparty and was favoredby the ColonialOffice and the last
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