“‘Israel cannot leap to its feet, full grown and capable,’ he
explained. ‘It has been scattered and dormant too long. As
delegate to the peace conference, I am to outline the demands
of the new Judea. The first and most important of these is the
political desire of the new Hebrew nation. We desire a British
trusteeship for a period of twenty-five years. We do not want
to establish a parliament or congress in Judea for at least
twenty-five years. The British have emancipated us from the
Turk. Great Britain is more capable of governing or overseeing
Palestine as a colony than any one other country.
“‘If the English will agree to this our plan then includes
the appointment by England of a Zionist as governor-general
of Judea. It is more or less known among Zionists that Mr.
Justice Brandeis is the most logical man now living for the
position of governor-general. Under him there should be two
sub-governors—one a Christian and the other a Moslem. Both
should be appointed by England. We also intend to have attorney
generals for the various provinces and mayors for the various
communities in Palestine. These are to be elected by the people.
“‘After twenty-five years Judea may be in position to govern
herself. As a totally independent nation and part of an entente
including Armenia and Arabia, Judea would be a powerful asset
to the western world not only as a producer of culture and a
contributor to the world’s markets, but as a military barrier
against any power seeking to control the Suez Canal.’
“OUTNUMBERED BY OTHERS
“Ben Avi’s desire for a British over-lordship is inspired
by the fact that were Palestine to proclaim a complete
independence to-day and seek by popular vote to elect its
own ruler, the Moslem and Christian peoples living there
would outnumber and outvote the Hebrew population. The result
would be a nation in which the Jews were in the minority. By
England’s recognition of Judea as a Jewish nation and giving
its Moslems and Christians representation through sub-governor
generals, the Zionists are confident that their dreams will be
most practically fulfilled.
“The history of Palestine’s struggle towards renationalizing of
the Jewish race is comparatively recent. Beginning some forty
years ago with the agitation of a handful of idealists, the
movement expanded slowly. Great effort to repopulate Palestine
with Jews drawn from Russia for the most part met with
indifferent success. In the face of ridicule and protest from
their own race, the Jews of England, the United States, France,
Russia and Germany, acting as an intensive minority, pursued
their dream.”