Woodhead Commission - Conclusions

Conclusions

The report of the Commission was published in 1938 as the "Palestine Partition Commission Report". It concluded that Plan C was the best of the three plans but listed considerable difficulties for it. Moreover, two of the four members signed subject to reservations that dissented from the conclusions, one favoring Plan B and one not supporting any of the plans.

Plan A was rejected first because the Arab population of the Jewish state would be almost equal to the Jewish populatiom and the Commission rejected forced transfer as a solution. Second, the inclusion of Galilee in the Jewish state was considered undesirable as "the population is almost entirely Arab", the Arabs living there were likely to resist the inclusion by force, and the option would create a "minority problem" that threatened regional stability.

The problem of Galilee was considered fatal to Plan B. Including it in the Arab state would create a major security problem for the Jewish state, while keeping it indefinitely under mandate would deprive the large Arab population of its right to independence. Major problems were also seen with the disposition of Haifa, whose population was approximately half Jewish, and the part of Palestine running from Haifa to Beisan and then north to the frontier.

The Commission also declared that there were financial and economic difficulties "of such a nature that we can find no possible way to overcome them within our terms of reference." They suggested that the Arab and Jewish states not be given fiscal independence but instead the UK government accept "the very considerable financial liability involved".

Two members of the Commission also added Notes of Reservation. Russell argued that Plan B was preferred to Plan C, being more in accord with the Peel Commission's plan, more likely to secure peace, and more equitable and practical. Reid argued that all three plans were fatally flawed.

The report of the Woodhead commission was presented to Parliament and published on November 9, 1938. As a consequence, the government issued a policy statement that "the political, administrative and financial difficulties involved in the proposal to create independent Arab and Jewish States inside Palestine are so great that this solution of the problem is impracticable."

The Jewish Agency Executive responded that the report could not "serve as the basis for any negotiations, either between the Jews and the Arabs or between the Jewish Agency and the government."