Halifax Sees “general Agreement” on Jewish Army Plan

In his first New York press conference as British Ambassador, Lord Halifax said today that there had been “general agreement upon the outlines” of the plan for formation of a Jewish army before he left London on Jan. 24, although the negotiations had not been concluded at that time.

Questions regarding Palestine were among those raised at the conference at the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, during which Lord Halifax, facing some 60 reporters, reiterated that Britain spurned the idea of a negotiated peace with Hitler–which “would be worth just half of the paper on which it would be written”–and asserted that “we will, if we have to, fight for 20 years; we will win this war, but the sooner you (the U.S.) can help, the shorter the job will be.”

It was called to the Ambassador’s attention that Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the World Zionist Organization, had arrived in New York on Saturday after negotiations in London regarding formation of a Jewish army and Lord Halifax was asked what the present status of these negotiations were.

I know there has been a great deal of discussion about it,” the Ambassador said. “There was before I left the Foreign Office. But they weren’t concluded when I left England. Therefore, I really don’t know more than you know. I know Dr. Weizmann and the British Government had a great deal of discussion about it. I think there was very general agreement about the outlines of what they both wanted to see.”

At another point, asked to what extent the Balfour Declaration had been fulfilled, Lord Halifax said:

“That pledge has been fulfilled–I would maintain it has been in the process of being fulfilled completely. And if those who sometimes criticize its non-fulfillment had the experience that those who have had to try and secure the greatest measure of justice in its fulfillment between all those concerned, I think we should have had a good deal less talk about its non-fulfillment.”