The British Mandate and the Inception of the Concept of Land Occupation and Jewish Settlement
Since the late 19th century, British support has played a key role in the foundation of Israel. Their goal of creating a national homeland for the Jews in the land of Palestine would never have been accomplished without this assistance and the crucial role that Britain played in the Zionist movement.
Since the middle of the nineteenth century, Britain has been worried about the idea of giving the Jews a national homeland. It benefited from having a friendly power close to the Suez Canal in order to control marine routes and increase its influence in the area. From then on, the British came to embrace the notion of "a land without a people for a people without a land." Zionist leaders came to the realization that their best chance of creating a Jewish state in Palestine lay with Britain. Chaim Weizmann, the president of the World Zionist Organization, said the following: "If Palestine is under British influence and Britain supports Jewish settlement there, we could have a million or more Jews there in 20 to 30 years. Perhaps more. He worked tirelessly to establish a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine, replacing religious identity with a racial, nationalist, and colonial one." They would rebuild civilization, develop the nation, and create a formidable defense for the Suez Canal.
The Sykes-Picot Agreement, which divided the region between Britain and France and placed Palestine under international administration, was signed as the Ottoman Empire continued to lose the First World War. Sykes, however, worked to further Zionism's goal of giving Jews a country in Palestine. This effort resulted in the Balfour Declaration, which made Jewish immigration and the creation of Israel easier.
Following the Balfour Declaration, the San Remo Conference produced conclusions that fulfilled the Balfour pledge to the Jews, putting Syria under French mandate, Iraq under British mandate, and Palestine under British mandate. France's resolute intention to invade Syria led to the mandate decision in San Remo, which was essentially the application of the Sykes-Picot Agreement.
In order to create a Jewish national homeland, Britain used all available tactics during the 30 years of its mandate, including forced relocation, arrests, executions, and discriminatory policies against Palestinians. Under the guise of being a minority that needed self-defense, it permitted Jews to bear arms. The Zionist movement's attempts to influence American leadership through capital caused the political balance to shift from Britain to the United States, and the Palestinian question was brought before the UN. Jews, who at the time controlled less than 7% of the land in Palestine, received 55% of it from the UN.
Numerous Palestinian communities and villages were taken over by Zionists, who then violently drove out their residents. The state of Israel was established in 1948 following around 30 years of British rule over Palestine; this event is known to Palestinians as the Nakba, or tragedy.