The military authorities in Palestine are making preparations to meet emergencies arising from any possible decisions that the British Government may make within the next few months concerning the mandate’s status, a Foreign Office spokesman said today.
He termed “misleading,” however, a report published in yesterday’s Sunday Times that the military measures were being taken because of an expected decision partitioning the country. It is not yet known what political decisions will be taken, the spokesman said.
The London Times, which has no connection with the Sunday Times, expressed doubts that Foreign Minister Bevin will be able to secure American endorsement of the British plan for “federalization” of Palestine. It warns that unless the government wants former Prime Minister Churchill’s suggestion that the mandate be surrendered to the U.N. if American aid cannot be secured to “gain ground by default,” it must find and formulate with the utmost speed, proposals which hold some prospect of settlement.
The paper says an attempt must be made to rally moderate Jews and Arabs, but adds that the question of Jewish immigration is an almost insuperable obstacle to any agreement. It welcomes “signs that the conscience of Jews in Palestine and elsewhere is increasingly stirred to restrain terrorists” and warns that continued outrages will inevitably increase Arab-Jewish tension.
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