The Hot Cold War: the mounting influence of the USSR on British intelligence in Palestine, 1945-1948 (and the misconception of intelligence failure as a root cause of the Mandate’s demise)

Abstract

ABSTRACT At the end of the Second World War, British intelligence faced an apparently unassailable challenge in Palestine that had been incubating for some decades beforehand. A crisis of Jewish immigration, insurgency and an increasingly difficult relationship with the United States forced Britain into a position of concession and, like many other instances through the second half of the twentieth century, another showpiece of the Empire would ultimately be resigned. Much historiography portrays a damning account of British intelligence in Palestine, highlighting its shortcomings, deficiencies and post-war outdatedness as a key reason for the abandonment of the Mandate. However, an examination of the importance of the other burgeoning superpower, the USSR – clearly weighing heavily on British intelligence – presents a more balanced account of the intelligence effort in Palestine. This article challenges the perception that there was an ‘intelligence failure’ in Palestine regarding immigration and insurgency challenges, as well as in the ‘special relationship’ with the USA; using the Secret Service’s recognition of the Soviet threat to do so. An examination of these phenomena certainly leads to a more sparing account of the Secret Service’s involvement in Palestine.