Quiet negotiations which may affect the outcome of the London conferences on Palestine as well as the future of the Jews in the Holy Land are in progress here between representatives of the British and French Governments, it was learned today. These negotiations are understood to be aimed at inducing the French Government to agree to the establishment of a federation of Arab states to comprise French-mandated Syria and British mandated Palestine and Transjordan, with a provision that Jews be admitted to these territories under restrictions guaranteeing that they never become a majority.
While the French Government is understood to be not inclined to have Syria enter such a federation, the British Government hopes to secure French agreement on a combination which would bring Lebanon, a separately governed republic under the Syrian mandate, into a united state with Palestine, to be joined by Syria at some future date.
Meanwhile, the French Government is watching the London discussions with closest interest since their outcome, it is believed here, can affect the British-French position in the Eastern Mediterranean, on one hand, and British-French relations with Turkey, on the other.
It is emphasized here that the London conferences were convoked because England foresaw that totalitarian countries would attempt to provoke a conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean. Therefore, Britain considered it important (1) to win Arab friendship, (2) to remain in Palestine, which is a key position in Britain’s “lifeline” to India, (3) secure for herself the Haifa harbor as a safeguard of the Mosul oil pipeline, which has its terminus in Haifa, and as a counterbalance to Italian naval bases.
The French believe that London, while desiring not to lose Jewish support in the event of a war, nevertheless speculates that the Jews will remain pro-English despite the disappointment which is said to be in preparation for them at the London discussions.
Attention is drawn, however, to the fact that the Jews are beginning to flirt with Turkey, which is opposed to the establishment of a pan-Arab federation and is ready to support Jewish claims if England continues to promote the federation idea. In this connection it is also pointed out that Britain cannot afford to antagonize Turkey in view of the latter’s strategic importance in the Mediterranean. Thus, Jewish orientation toward Turkey, and especially the recent trip of Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, to Angora, are considered significant.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
