Ben-Gurion and Britain, 1930-1939

Abstract

Ben-Gurion’s stance on Britain and its Palestine policy fluctuated during the 1930s. In the beginning and end of the decade – in view of the Passfield and MacDonald White Papers – Ben-Gurion claimed that the Zionist “State in the Making” had no chance of attaining its coveted goal with the Mandate Government’s assistance. But during the decade, Ben-Gurion became Britain’s greatest devotee and key enthusiast in the Yishuv’s political arena. No other politician, especially in the Mapai leadership, expressed his support of Britain more emphatically and explicitly than Ben-Gurion. Throughout the three-year long security threat of the Arab Revolt, he chose to predicate the advancement of the Zionist project on alliance with Britain. The article examines the dilemmas that Ben-Gurion faced in this decade, in particular vis-à-vis Arthur Wauchope, the British High Commissioner, and his reasons for believing that Jewish interests lay in strengthening British control over Palestine.