Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin today indicated to Jewish leaders that he intends to discuss the Palestine issue with U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall when they meet at the Moscow Conference, which is to open on March 10.
Receiving a delegation of Agudas Israel leaders, Bevin said that Colonial Secretary Arthur Creech-Jones, who was present, will remain in touch with the Palestine situation during his absence from England. The delegation, headed by H.A. Goodman, met with Bevin and Creech-Jones for thirty minutes.
The Agudah delegation suggested a substantial increase in immigration during the interim period until the Palestine issue is acted upon by the United Nations. It also urged further consultations with the Jewish Agency and other Jewish organizations, in an attempt to establish whether a “modus vivendi” can be reached prior to submission of the question to the U.N. It is understood that Bevin indicated that he is not against increasing the present immigration schedule of 1,500 per month, provided that “illegal” Jewish immigration is terminated.
JEWISH AGENCY LEADERS INSIST ON ADMISSION OF 100,000 JEWS
At their meeting with Bevin and Creech-Jones yesterday, Dr. Nahum Goldmann and Berl Locker, leaders of the Jewish Agency, insisted on the admission of 100,000 Jews to Palestine and emphasized that their entry could be effected within one year. They also requested that the land laws in Palestine be amended during the interim period. It is understood that the meeting ended without any agreement being reached.
It is doubted here whether the efforts to obtain U.N. action on the Palestine issue prior to the next scheduled meeting of the General Assembly in September will succeed. Aside from the formalities involved in summoning a special session of the Assembly and the cost, there are other factors which militate against action soon, it was pointed out today.
One of these factors is the Moscow conference. It is not expected here that the conference will end much before May and it is considered unlikely that a session of the General Assembly will be convoked for June or July in New York when the city is hot and uncomfortable. There is also the question of allowing the member nations to study the multitude of documents on the Palestine question. Except for the governments directly concerned in the Palestine issue, the other members of the United Nations did not have occasion to study the issue. Many of them are completely unfamiliar with the problem. It will therefore be necessary to circularize them with a large amount of material, ranging from pre-war documents to the White Paper issued by the British Government last week.
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