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and Jabotinsky. He was very willing to help their and they looked to Berlin as their spiritual
enterprise and he accompanied Jabotinsky to the home.
War Office in an effort to convince the military
chiefs of the value of such a Jewish battalion. Amery was First Lord of the Admiralty from
Later when he was in the Secretariat he also 1922-24 and then took over the Colonial Office
approached the War Cabinet in an effort to from Churchill. In this position, he had the
persuade the top politicians of the importance of responsibility for running the Palestine Mandate
such a battalion. In taking on this role, he was until 1929. He and Weizmann had become
actually putting himself out on a limb as there friendly at the time of the Balfour Declaration
was intense opposition to the idea of such a and, even though he was a senior Minister in the
Jewish battalion both from within the military Conservative Government, Weizmann had no
establishment and from within the Jewish hesitation in approaching him on different
community itself. occasions in order to enlist his help in promoting
Zionist interests.
Even so, mainly due to the efforts of Patterson,
Jabotinsky and Amery, a Jewish legion was On taking over the Colonial Office, he inherited
established comprising five battalions. It made two permanent officials, Major Hubert Young
its first appearance in Palestine in 1918. and Sir John Shuckburgh, who were strongly
anti-Zionist and were to serve in the ministry for
Once he was established in the Secretariat, many years. Amery however was not prepared to
Amery made his sympathies for Zionism clear. be browbeaten by either of them as evidenced in
In a letter to Cabinet member Sir Edward the following episode.
Carson, he wrote:
In 1922 High Commissioner Samuel considered
Once there is a national home for the Jewish that it would be a good step to give the Jewish
persecuted majority, the English Jews will no National Council (Va'ad Leumi) more authority
longer have anything to trouble about. On within the Yishuv including the right to levy
the other hand an anti-Semitism which is taxes. He therefore submitted a draft statute to
based partly on the fear of being swamped the Colonial Office for Churchill's approval.
by hordes of undesirable aliens from Russia, Whereas Churchill turned down the proposal,
etc, and partly by an instinctive suspicion Amery reversed the decision, which led to an
against a community which has so many angry confrontation with the above two officials.
international ramifications, will be much
diminished when the hordes in question have Young stated that the arguments against the
another outlet, and when the motive for proposal are quite unanswerable and felt very
internationalism among the Jews is strongly that a matter of this importance should
diminished. not be decided merely on the recommendation of
The other point, and the one which is most a Jewish High Commissioner and Shuckburgh
important to my mind, is that the Jews alone considered the proposal “quite alien to British
can build up a strong civilization in institutions.”
Palestine which could help to hold its own Amery however, rejected their objections and the
against German-Turkish oppression; and by statute was eventually promulgated in 1928.
enlisting their interest on our side in this It was in this period, at the end of the 1920s, that
country, we will gain a very great deal. It the Zionists realised that they had good friends
would be a fatal thing if, after the War, the in the Colonial Office and often sought to make
interests of the Jews throughout the world full use of them, especially when there was a
were enlisted on the side of the Germans, dispute with the Palestine Arab leadership.
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