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The alternative division

The British abstained from the UN vote on the partition plan on the grounds that they could not support a plan on which both sides disagree, but in fact, the British promoted their own partition plan. This alternative plan stood in stark contrast to the UN plan * and in a separate study: American Jews had a part in the success of the UN vote on the partition plan on November 29, 1947

This is what the historian Dr. Moti Golani of the Department of Land of Israel Studies at the University of Haifa reveals following research he conducted for his book "The Last Commissioner of Judah" which is about to be published soon. The full research findings will be presented at the conference "Sixty Years to XNUMX November" which will be held this week at the University of Haifa. "If the British had not acted in practice to implement their alternative partition plan, there is great doubt whether the State of Israel would have been established in the format we know," said Dr. Golani.

"It was clear to the British that they had to leave the area, but they in no way wanted to see the mufti, whom they strongly opposed, enter and rule the Palestinian state, as it emerged from the UN partition plan. They preferred that the territories designated for the Palestinian state be taken over by the King of Jordan, and in the end, that is indeed what happened. At the end of the war, there was a Jewish state alongside territories held under Jordanian control," noted Dr. Golani. "The results of the War of Independence were largely due to the active intervention of the British who preferred an alternative partition plan to the one approved by the United Nations," he noted.

According to the study, it was not the hand of chance that led to the fact that the British partition plan would eventually come to fruition. "The main allies of the British were the Jordanians and the one who headed the Jordanian Legion, which was at the time the strongest army in the region, was a British officer. Without British approval, the Jordanian Legion would not have participated in the war. With the help of the influence they had in the Arab League, they brought about the decision according to which King Abdullah of Jordan would head the Arab forces, and thus they had an influence on the united Arab army."

Another, even more important, action carried out by the British was preventing the Egyptian and Syrian armies from entering Israel's territories before the end of the mandate. "The Israeli army first defeated the Palestinian forces inside Israel and only after that Arab armies invaded here. "If the British hadn't stopped the Egyptian and Syrian armies, who wanted to enter during this close time to help the Palestinians, it is likely that the young Israeli army would not have been able to hold out and our entire history would have looked different," concluded Dr. Golani.

To watch Prof. Golani's video clip

historical intervention

Dr. Zohar Segev from the Department of History of the Land of Israel at the University of Haifa at the Lezion Conference on November XNUMX: "If it weren't for the intervention of American Jewry, it is likely that the State of Israel would not have been established." And Dr. Segev added that this was the first and only time that American Jewry threatened to cast an ethnic vote following an issue related to the Land of Israel.

Had it not been for the intervention of the Jews of the United States in the period before the UN vote on the partition plan in the 1947th of November XNUMX, it is likely that the State of Israel would not have been established - this is the conclusion reached by Dr. Zohar Segev of the Department of History of the Land of Israel following the research on his book "From Ethnic Politicians to National Leaders" - The leadership of the Jews of the United States, the Holocaust and the establishment of Israel", which is about to be published soon. The full findings of the study will be presented at the conference "Sixty Years to the Nineteenth November" held this week at the University of Haifa.

According to him, in contrast to the warm relations we know today between Israel and the United States, the American interest at the end of World War II was to oppose the solution of a state for the Jewish people and the partition plan of the United Nations. "From the moment there are talks about the partition plan and it is clear that the issue will come to a decision by the United Nations, the position of the United States and its leader Harry Truman is against or at best, refrains - in terms of its power and influence, it is almost equivalent to opposition," he said, noting that since the partition decision had to pass With a privileged majority - that is, more than half of the representatives in the UN had to vote in favor - this position would have actually meant that the partition plan would not have passed in the UN and the State of Israel would not have been established.

At this point, the Jews of the United States entered the picture, led by Abba Hillel Silver. According to Dr. Segev, although the Jewish leadership was still aware of the Holocaust during World War II, it was only after the war, with the true understanding of the extent of the atrocities, that the Jews of the United States began to understand that they could no longer stand on the sidelines and must intervene for the benefit of the European Jews who survived the Holocaust. "You have to understand that it is not easy for an ethnic group to act against the American interest and in favor of its own ethnic interest, but this is exactly what happened - the Jewish leadership made it clear to Truman that if he did not change his position in favor of establishing a Jewish state, they would vote against him at the ballot box. It was the first time that the Jews of the United States acted in this way, and also the last."

The Jewish warning was realized in the elections for the Senate and the local governors in 1946, when President Truman's Democratic Party suffered a severe defeat. When the field operatives of the Democrats began to check the reasons, it became clear to them that the Jews had indeed carried out their threat and voted overwhelmingly for the Republican Party. "The people in the field presented their conclusions to Truman and in the end told him that if he did not change his position, these would also be the results of the presidential elections in '48. This was one of the main reasons why he changed his mind and the United States eventually supported the partition plan," concluded Dr. Segev.

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