Adversaries and facilitators: The unconventional diplomacy of illegal immigration to Palestine, 1945–48
| Author | Elihu Bergman |
| Publication information | Israel Affairs, 2002 |
Narrative
Elihu Bergman wrote this comprehensive article, based mainly on primary sources.
He began with an examination of the position of the British mandatory government regarding illegal immigration between 1939 and 1945, and then examined the various Jewish strategies for surmounting Britain’s limits on Jewish immigration to Palestine and the British response to these Zionist efforts after 1945.
He looked at the attitude and role, in facilitating, or opposing, Jewish illegal immigration, of various western countries, most importantly the United States, Italy and France. and specifically, the response of these, and other, nations to the Exodus 1947 affair and outlined the Soviet (and Soviet satellite states’) involvement in the issue at this time,
placing the role of adversaries and facilitators in the context of the ongoing battle of wits between the Zionist movement and the British over immigration to Palestine.