8 - Zionist Momentum and the US and British Governments’ Counteroffensive: September–December 1947

Summary

In response to events such as the Exodus affair, and to the UN Special Committee support for partition of Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish state, American and British diplomatic and military officials met at the Pentagon in early fall 1947. Organized by Loy Henderson and George Kennan in the US State Department, the participants agreed that a “cornerstone” of US policy was to support continued British presence in the Middle East, including in Palestine both to preserve access to Arab oil resources and to prevent expanded Soviet influence in the region. As the participants thought a Jewish state in Palestine would enhance Soviet prospects and harm Western access to Arab oil, they concluded that the Zionist project undermined US national security interests.