The Decision on Palestine The Government's new solution of the
Palestine problem is not satisfactory, for the decisive reason that no solution of that problem could be. A situation exists in Palestine which makes it impossible for what are advanced as just claims by one side to be conceded without the infliction of injustice on the other. There must be some compromise, and that is what the Government has attempted. The aim is the creation of an independent State in the course of ten years. But the immediate concern is the next five years, in the course of which Palestinians (both Arabs and Jews) are to be put in charge of Government departments in Palestine, with British advisers attached to them, and with the right of ultimate decision vested in the High Commissioner. They will have seats on the Executive Council, which it is hoped will gradually evolve into a Council of Ministers. Jewish immigration will be limited to a total of 75,000 in the five years (against a present annual average of 12,000), and will only continue after that period if the Arabs acquiesce. The vital question to be decided when the situation is reviewed at the end of five years is whether Palestine shall become a unitary or a federal S.:ate. That can only be determined in the light of developments in the transitional period.
