Palestine Jews Suspect Britain Intends to Sabotage Admission of 100,000 Refugees

Fear was expressed in Jewish circles here today that Britain may attempt to sabotage the recommendations of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry.

The Hebrew press bitterly criticized yesterday’s statement in Commons by Prime Minister Attlee, in which he declared that the “illegal armies” in Palestine must disband and surrender their arms before the 100,000 Jews will be admitted. His conditions were branded “political blackmail” by the Palestine Post. The paper compared Attlee’s statement with the warm endorsement which President Truman gave the recommendation, and expressed the belief that the object of the British Government was “to gain more time and to find an excuse for doing as little as possible.” Similar criticism was voiced in every Jewish newspaper in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Emphasizing that there is a distinction between the Haganah, the Jewish resistance, and the Jewish extremist groups, the Palestine Post said: “To set what, in fact, are acts by some irresponsible few – the Palestine report cautions against their exaggeration – in the scales against the last hopes of 100,000 suffering individuals is a blatant denial of the good intentions broadcast to the whole world.” The article pointed out that the Haganah can be liquidated not by threats but only through natural developments.

The newspaper “Hearetz” said: “Preliminary reactions in Britain show that pressure is being brought for non-acceptance of the commission’s recommendation of 100,000 immigrants.” The “Voice of Israel,” the Jewish underground radio, stated: “Palestine Jewry will never disarm.”

NO GUARANTEE THAT REPORT WILL BE IMPLEMENTED, AGENCY LEADER WARNS

Pointing out that there is no guarantee that the recommendations of the Anglo-American Palestine committee will be carried out, Dr. Moshe Kleinbaim-Sneh, a member of the Jewish Agency, told a nation-wide conference of the General Zionists that “we must be on guard, we must see how the recommendations are carried out and decide our policy accordingly.”

He asserted that the British Government has not yet indicated that it plans to implement the recommendations; that the Government’s hesitation encourages Arab leaders; and, finally, even if the recommendations are approved, their implementation will be in the hands of the same Palestine administration “which introduced anti-Zionist poison into the inquiry committee’s deliberations.”

Sneh stated that in rejecting the demand for a Jewish state, the committee had turned down the Jews’ main demand and said that point of the recommendations must be fought with “the entire strength of Jewish needs and the entire driving power of Jewish constructive enterprise.

“We will compel the nations of the world to change this report as the report changed the White Paper. We, however, must admit that the report contains not only negative parts. The abrogation of the White Paper clauses on immigration and land restrictions comprise its positive parts. If these recommendations are sincerely and fully implemented, we would return to the pre-White Paper era.”