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ABSTRACT
At the end of the Second World War, British intelligence faced an apparently unassailable challenge in Palestine that had been incubating for some decades beforehand. A crisis of Jewish immigration, insurgency and an increasingly difficult relationship with the United States forced Britain into a position of concession and, like many other instances through the second half of the twentieth century, another showpiece of the Empire would ultimately be resigned. Much historiography portrays a damning account of British intelligence in Palestine, highlighting its shortcomings, deficiencies and post-war outdatedness as a key reason for the abandonment of the Mandate. However, an examination of the importance of the other burgeoning superpower, the USSR – clearly weighing heavily on British intelligence – presents a more balanced account of the intelligence effort in Palestine. This article challenges the perception that there was an ‘intelligence failure’ in Palestine regarding immigration and insurgency challenges, as well as in the ‘special relationship’ with the USA; using the Secret Service’s recognition of the Soviet threat to do so. An examination of these phenomena certainly leads to a more sparing account of the Secret Service’s involvement in Palestine.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful for the assistance given from Professor Simon Ball – both in introducing me to this topic and helping me find my feet when beginning to put this research together. Then to Dr Luke Daly-Groves, not only for your fantastic managing of an anxious class during a very unsure term, but also for your knowledge and advice that you have offered me throughout; I am very thankful. For the National Archives, Kew, for making so much archive material digitally available and facilitating this research during a period when it was not possible to visit in person. Finally for my parents, for encouragement, support and for teaching me how to use semi-colons properly.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin to Prime Minister Clement Attlee, circa July 1945, cited in Christopher Andrew, The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5 (London: Penguin Books, 2010), p. 354.; Steven Wagner, ‘Whispers from Below: Zionist Secret Diplomacy, Terrorism and British Security Inside and Out of Palestine, 1944–47’, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 42.3 (2014), 440–463 (p. 447) <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03086534.2014.895136> [accessed 8 April 2021].
2 ibid, p. 446.
3 Steven Wagner, ‘British Intelligence and the “Fifth” Occupying Power: The Secret Struggle to Prevent Jewish Illegal Immigration to Palestine’, Intelligence and National Security, 29.5 (2014), 698–726 (p. 703) <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02684527.2013.846730> [accessed 8 April 2021].
4 Calder Walton, ‘British Intelligence and the Mandate of Palestine: Threats to British National Security Immediately After the Second World War’, Intelligence and National Security, 23.4 (2008) 435–462 (p. 436) <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02684520802293049> [accessed 8 April 2021].
5 Michael S. Goodman, The Official History of the Joint Intelligence Committee. Volume 1: From the Approach of the Second World War to the Suez Crisis (London: Routledge, 2014), pp. 348–9.
6 ibid, p. 257.
7 The Jewish community in Palestine before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
8 Wagner, ‘Whispers from Below’, p. 442.; Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power,’ p. 699.
9 ibid, p. 163.
10 Andrew, Defence of the Realm.; Walton, ‘British Intelligence and the Mandate of Palestine’.; Wagner, ‘Whispers from Below’, p. 444.
11 David A. Charters, The British Army and Jewish Insurgency in Palestine, 1945–47 (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1989).; Steven Wagner, ‘British Intelligence and the Jewish Resistance Movement in the Palestine Mandate, 1945–6’, Intelligence and National Security, 23.5 (2008), 629–657 (p. 632) <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02684520802449500> [accessed 8 April 2021].; Wagner, ‘Whispers from Below’, p. 445.
12 Walton, ‘British Intelligence and the Mandate of Palestine’.; Wagner, ‘Whispers from Below’, p. 446.
13 ibid.
14 ibid, p. 442.
15 see Bruce R. Hoffman, The Failure of British Military Strategy within Palestine, 1939–1947 (Jerusalem: Bar Ilan University Press, 1983), pp. 9–10 in Aldrich, The Hidden Hand, p. 257.; Walton, ‘British Intelligence and the Mandate of Palestine’.; Charters, The British Army and Jewish Insurgency in Palestine.; Goodman, The Official History of the Joint Intelligence Committee, p. 349.
16 Wagner, ‘British Intelligence and the Jewish Resistance Movement’, p. 629.; Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, p. 698.
17 Wagner, ‘Whispers from Below’, p. 446.
18 Aldrich, The Hidden Hand, p. 71.; Walton, ‘British Intelligence and the Mandate of Palestine’, p. 442.
19 Michael J. Cohen, Palestine to Israel: From Mandate to Independence (London: Cass, 1988), p. 101.; Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, p. 702.
20 ibid, pp. 698–9.
21 Wagner, ‘Whispers from Below’, p. 440.
22 Wagner, ‘the ‘Fifth’ Occupying Power, p. 699.
23 ibid.
24 ibid, p. 704.
25 Walton, ‘British Intelligence and the Mandate of Palestine’, p. 436.; Michael J. Cohen, ‘Appeasement in the Middle East: the British White Paper on Palestine, May 1939’, The Historical Journal, 16.3 (1973) 571–96 (p. 596) <https://www.jstor.org/stable/2638205> [accessed 8 April 2021].
26 Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, pp. 698–9.
27 Kew, The National Archives (hereafter TNA), Chiefs of Staff. Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee. Memoranda. January-September 1947. Papers Nos JIC 1–50. Volume XLV, CAB 158/1, Organisation of Illegal Immigration, 24 July 1947.
28 ibid.
29 Wagner, ‘British Intelligence and the Jewish Resistance Movement’, p. 629.
30 Michael J. Cohen, Palestine to Israel, p. 101.; Wagner ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, p. 702.
31 TNA, Memorandum. Palestine Committee, CAB 129/2/6, Report by the Lord President of the Council, 8 September 1945.; Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, p. 703.
32 TNA, CAB 129/2/6, Report by the Lord President of the Council, 8 September 1945.
33 Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, p. 717.
34 TNA, Disposal of Jews in Austria: combatting illegal immigration and placing of Jews who are already illegally in Austria, FO 945/372, The Unauthorized and Clandestine Movement of Jewish DPs in Austria, 8 April 1946.; Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, p. 717.; TNA, Russian External Relations (other than communist) with the Middle East, KV 3/370, PICME Report, 1 August 1946, issued 11 September 1946.; Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, p. 717.
35 Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’.
36 TNA, War Cabinet Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee Memoranda. July-September 1945. Papers Nos JIC 216–220. Volume XL, CAB 81/130, Military Repercussions in the Middle East to the Alternative Courses of Action in Palestine, When the Immigration Quota is Exhausted, 22 July 1945.
37 TNA, War Cabinet Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee Memoranda. April-October 1946. Papers Nos. JIC 41–75. Volume XLIII, CAB 81/013, The Spread of Communism Throughout the World and the Extent of its Direction from Moscow. 23 September 1946.
38 TNA, War Cabinet Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee Memoranda. November-December 1946. Papers Nos. JIC 76–110. Volume XLIV, CAB 81/134, Russia’s Strategic Interests and Intentions in the Middle East, 22 August 1946.
39 ibid.
40 Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, p. 698.
41 Keith Jeffrey, MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service 1909–1949 (London: Bloomsbury, 2010), pp. 689.; Aldrich, The Black Door, p. 153.
42 Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, pp. 706–7.
43 Jeffrey, MI6, p. 691.
44 Aldrich, The Hidden Hand, p. 264.
45 Andrew, Defence of the Realm.; Walton, ‘British Intelligence and the Mandate of Palestine’.; Wagner, ‘Whispers from Below’, p.444.
46 Wagner, ‘Whispers from Below’, p.442.; Keith Jeffery, ‘Intelligence and Counter-Insurgency Operations: Some Reflections on the British Experience’, Intelligence and National Security, 2.1 (1987), 118–149 (p. 118) <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02684528708431879> [accessed 21 April 2021].
47 Charters, ‘Eyes of the Underground’, p.164.; ibid, pp.174–5.; David A. Charters, ‘British Intelligence and the Palestine Campaign, 1945–47, Intelligence and National Security, 6.1 (1991) 115–140 (p. 117) <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02684529108432093> [accessed 21 April 2021].
48 ibid, p. 123.; ibid, p. 134.
49 Wagner, ‘Whispers from Below’, p. 448.
50 ibid, p. 440.
51 Charters, ‘Eyes of the Underground’, p. 146.
52 ibid.
53 ibid, pp. 164–5.
54 ibid.
55 TNA, Stern Group – Irgun Zvai Leumi, Israel, KV5/31, H.J. Seager, MI5, to H.E. Burley, Home Office, 6 January 1947.; Walton, ‘British Intelligence and Mandate of Palestine’, p. 453.
56 Wagner, ‘British Intelligence and the Jewish Resistance Movement’, p. 646.
57 ibid.
58 TNA, War Cabinet, Ministry of Defence and Cabinet Office: Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee, later Committee: Secretariat: Minutes (JIC(SEC)). Secretariat Minuites (1946) 972–1301, CAB 176/012: Russian Anti-British Activities in the Middle East, 6 September 1946.
59 Walton, ‘British Intelligence and Mandate of Palestine’, p. 456.; ibid, pp. 270–328.
60 Wagner, ‘the ‘Fifth’ Occupying Power, p. 698.; Barker, The British Between the Superpowers, p. 52.
61 Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, p. 700.
62 see James MacDonald, My Mission in Israel, 1948–1951 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1951), pp. 24–6.; Bartley C. Crum, Behind the Silken Curtain: A Personal Account of Anglo-American Diplomacy in Palestine and the Middle East (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1947), Bullock, Ernest Bevin, p. 256.
63 ibid.
64 David Cesarani, ‘The war on terror that failed: British counter-insurgency in Palestine 1945–1947 and the ‘Farran Affair’, Small Wars and Insurgencies, 23.4–5 (2012), 648–670 (p. 653) <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09592318.2012.709762> [accessed 21 April 2021].
65 Charters, The British Army and the Jewish Insurgency in Palestine.; Charters, ‘British Intelligence in the Palestine Campaign’, p. 116.
66 ibid.
67 The American intelligence body created immediately after World War II.
68 Washington D.C., National Archives and Records Administration (hereby NARA), RG 226, Entry 215, Box 2, WN#25926, Memorandum to ‘Isaiah’ discussing the proper way to handle contact with the British, 1 May 1946, cited in Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, p. 716.
69 Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, p. 715.
70 ibid, p.716.
71 ibid, p.725.
72 ibid, p.717.
73 Michael J. Cohen, Palestine and the Great Powers (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1982), pp. 31–2.
74 ibid, p. 54.
75 TNA, Terrorist Activities in Palestine: situation reports, FO 371/45,381, Bevin to Halifax, 12 October 1945, cited in Cohen, Palestine and the Great Powers, p. 63.
76 ibid.
77 Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’.
78 Barker, The British Between the Superpowers, p. 52.
79 Bullock, Ernest Bevin, p. 255.
80 Barker, The British Between the Superpowers, p. 52.
81 NARA, WN#25926, Memorandum to ‘Isaiah’ discussing the proper way to handle contact with the British, 1 May 1946, cited in Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’, p. 716.
82 Barker, The British Between the Superpowers, p. 79.
83 TNA, CAB 81/013, The Spread of Communism Throughout the World and the Extent of its Direction from Moscow. 23 September 1946.
84 ibid.
85 ibid.
86 ibid.
87 ibid.
88 TNA, CAB 81/133, Palestine – Anglo-US Consultations, 20 June 1946.
89 TNA, KV 4/384, Appendix B, note on Future Security Problems in Mid-East, A.J. Kellar to D.B. Dick White, November 1943, cited in Wagner, ‘The “Fifth” Occupying Power’, p. 714.
90 TNA CAB 159/1, Minutes of the 39th Meeting of the Sub-Committee, 25 June 1947.
91 TNA, CAB 158/1, Soviet Interests, Intentions and Capabilities, 6 August 1947.; TNA, CAB 158/3, Russian Interests, Intentions and Capabilities, 23 July 1948.; Aldrich, The Hidden Hand, p. 85.
92 Aldrich, The Hidden Hand, p. 85.
93 TNA, CAB 158/3, Short Term Intentions of the Soviet Union in Palestine, 13 February 1948.; Aldrich, The Hidden Hand, p. 85.
94 TNA, Ministry of Defence and Cabinet Office: Central Intelligence Machinery: Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee: Memoranda (JIC Series). Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee: Memoranda 45–107, CAB 158/4, American-British Agreed Intelligence Soviet Intentions and Capabilities 1949 and 1956/7, 10 November 1948.
95 TNA, CAB 158/4, Soviet Intentions and Capabilities 1949 and 1956/7, Report by the Joint Intelligence Committee, 8 November 1948.
96 TNA, CAB 158/4, American-British Agreed Intelligence Soviet Intentions and Capabilities 1949 and 1956/7, 10 November 1948.
97 TNA, CAB 159/1, Minutes of the 56th Meeting of the Sub-Committee, 27 August 1947.
98 Aldrich, The Hidden Hand, p. 264.
99 ibid, p. 285.
100 Charters, The British Army and the Jewish Insurgency in Palestine, p. 26.; Barker, The British Between the Superpowers, p. 79.
101 Ellen J. Ravndal, ‘Exit Britain: British Withdrawal From the Palestine Mandate in the Early Cold War, 1947–1948’, Diplomacy and Statecraft, 21.3 (2010), 416–433 (p. 417) <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09592296.2010.508409> [accessed 9 April 2021].
102 Martin Jones, Failure in Palestine: British and United States policy after the Second World War (London: Mansell, 1986).
103 Walton, ‘British Intelligence and the Mandate of Palestine’, p. 456.
104 Charters, ‘British Intelligence in the Palestine Campaign’, p. 123.
105 Andrew, Defence of the Realm, p. 353.
106 Wagner, ‘Whispers from Below’.; Wagner, ‘the “Fifth” Occupying Power’.
107 Wagner, ‘ the ‘Fifth; Occupying Power.; Wagner, ‘Whispers from Below’.
108 Wagner, ‘ the ‘Fifth’ Occupying Power, p. 698.
109 ibid.
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Notes on contributors
Joseph Russell-Hawkins
Joseph Russell-Hawkins is an International History and Politics graduate from the University of Leeds. His research interests include the Arab-Israeli conflict, British intelligence and broader Middle Eastern history and politics.