"ملف ٣٢/١١ اللجنة الملكية المعنية بفلسطين" [ظ‎‎٦‎٩] (٣٠٨/١٣٨)

2
Downing Street.
23rd December, 1937 *
Sm,
I have the honour to inform you that His Majesty’s Govern
ment in the United Kingdom have had under consideration t e
Statement of Policy in Palestine issued in July last (Cmd.
and the conclusions to be drawn from the resolutions on the
subject which have been passed first by the House of Commo ns^
and subsequently by the Permanent Mandates Commission and^
the Council and Assembly of the League of Nations. A memo
randum containing relevant extracts from the Statement ot
Policy and the resolutions in question, and containing ;w
extracts from Ministerial statements, is enclosed for convenience ,
of reference.
2. I feel that it is necessary to emphasize certain implications
of the acceptance in principle by His Majesty’s Government of
the recommendations contained in Part III of the Report of the
Royal Commission,* and to dispel, if possible, the uncertainty
which appears to exist in some quarters with regard to the
course of action which His Majesty’s Government have in view.
3. In the Statement of Policy His Majesty’s Government have
expressed their general agreement with the arguments and con
clusions of the Royal Commission and their opinion that a
scheme of tripartite division is the best and most hopeful solution
of the problem. In view of the public attention that has been
devoted to criticism of certain features of the tentative plan of
partition which is outlined in Part III of the Report of the Royal
Commission, I wish to make it clear that His Majesty’s
Government are in no sense committed to approval of that plan,
and in particular that they have not accepted the Commission’s
proposal for the compulsory transfer in the last resort of And^
from the Jewish to the Arab area.
4. In the opinion of His Majesty’s Government the discussions Jfc
at Geneva justify the undertaking of the further investigations
required for the drawing up of a more precise scheme expressed
in greater detail. The final decision cannot be taken in merely
general terms, and the further enquiry will undoubtedly provide
the necessary materials on which, when the best possible scheme
has been formulated, to judge of its equity and practicability. '
5. As you are aware, it has been announced that a further
special body will be appointed to visit Palestine, and to submit
to His Majesty’s Government, after consultation with the local
communities, proposals for a detailed scheme of partition; and
that it will be the task of this body to advise in due course as
to the provisional boundaries of the proposed Arab and Jewish
* Cmd. 5479 .