Fearless Leader
Donor
While reading Flight from the Reich the author, Deborah Dwork, identifies the Peel Commission as "...one of the heartbreaking 'what ifs' of the miserable history of refugee Jews from Nazi Europe."
She argues that had the 20th Zionist congress recognized the opportunity presented to them in the commission, that there was a genuine chance for the foundation of a Jewish state. Though no expert on the matter, I'm inclined to accept this argument for lack of contrary evidence.
So let's say that somehow Ben Gurion and other supporters of the Peel Commission are able to sway the recalcitrant Zionists into giving their grudging support and create a unified front. Convinced that the Jews are fully behind the partition, work is begun on ironing out the details. The partition of Palestine is then enacted in late 37/ early 38 with more or less the same borders as above.
Here are my thoughts...
-I'm going to bet that the creation of a Jewish state in TTL even though it's smaller than OTL is going to cause a major upswing in Arab nationalism and anti-semitism. Anyone care to disagree? I'd wager that as a result TTL's Arab revolt is going to be a lot nastier and could interact with WWII.
-Connected with this, I think the Nazi policy towards Jews is going to be drastically affected by the creation of Israel. Though they will likely initially support the emigration of Jews to Palestine, it isn't going to take them too terribly long to figure out that the existence of a Jewish state runs counter to their ideology. Destroying Israel is ultimately going to become one of Nazi Germany's major war aims and as a result I could see a large amount of clandestine aid heading to the Arabs from Germany in TTL to facilitate the destruction of Israel.
Also the potential for Jewish refugees to get to Israel and strengthen it is going to drastically change how Nazi Germany deals with the Jews. Emigration will at first become difficult and then become impossible. There will be far less consideration of a "Madagascar plan" in TTL and I think the Nazi's would logically gravitate to a "Final Solution" earlier than OTL. I'm thinking that we'd see earlier Einsatzgruppen initiating a "Holocaust by Bullets" seen in OTL Russia in TTL's Poland / western Europe.
-The creation of a Jewish state also greatly strengthens the hand of Jewish refugees outside of Palestine due to them having citizenship and some diplomatic protection.
-Assuming that the leadup to WWII proceeds roughly analogously to OTL, destroying Israel is going to probably manifest itself in the Nazi war aims. Greater German contributions to the Mediterranean theater coupled with rampant Arab anti-British nationalism could spell trouble for the British...Also there's a chance Barbarossa could be delayed/averted.
-Depending on the outcome of WWII, earlier Arab nationalism would certainly make the post-war Middle East far more "interesting" in a Chinese sense. Being branded Axis allies would certainly create an interesting post-war atmosphere. Perhaps Israel would expand it's borders in TTL using this as an excuse...
Thoughts?
She argues that had the 20th Zionist congress recognized the opportunity presented to them in the commission, that there was a genuine chance for the foundation of a Jewish state. Though no expert on the matter, I'm inclined to accept this argument for lack of contrary evidence.
So let's say that somehow Ben Gurion and other supporters of the Peel Commission are able to sway the recalcitrant Zionists into giving their grudging support and create a unified front. Convinced that the Jews are fully behind the partition, work is begun on ironing out the details. The partition of Palestine is then enacted in late 37/ early 38 with more or less the same borders as above.
Here are my thoughts...
-I'm going to bet that the creation of a Jewish state in TTL even though it's smaller than OTL is going to cause a major upswing in Arab nationalism and anti-semitism. Anyone care to disagree? I'd wager that as a result TTL's Arab revolt is going to be a lot nastier and could interact with WWII.
-Connected with this, I think the Nazi policy towards Jews is going to be drastically affected by the creation of Israel. Though they will likely initially support the emigration of Jews to Palestine, it isn't going to take them too terribly long to figure out that the existence of a Jewish state runs counter to their ideology. Destroying Israel is ultimately going to become one of Nazi Germany's major war aims and as a result I could see a large amount of clandestine aid heading to the Arabs from Germany in TTL to facilitate the destruction of Israel.
Also the potential for Jewish refugees to get to Israel and strengthen it is going to drastically change how Nazi Germany deals with the Jews. Emigration will at first become difficult and then become impossible. There will be far less consideration of a "Madagascar plan" in TTL and I think the Nazi's would logically gravitate to a "Final Solution" earlier than OTL. I'm thinking that we'd see earlier Einsatzgruppen initiating a "Holocaust by Bullets" seen in OTL Russia in TTL's Poland / western Europe.
-The creation of a Jewish state also greatly strengthens the hand of Jewish refugees outside of Palestine due to them having citizenship and some diplomatic protection.
-Assuming that the leadup to WWII proceeds roughly analogously to OTL, destroying Israel is going to probably manifest itself in the Nazi war aims. Greater German contributions to the Mediterranean theater coupled with rampant Arab anti-British nationalism could spell trouble for the British...Also there's a chance Barbarossa could be delayed/averted.
-Depending on the outcome of WWII, earlier Arab nationalism would certainly make the post-war Middle East far more "interesting" in a Chinese sense. Being branded Axis allies would certainly create an interesting post-war atmosphere. Perhaps Israel would expand it's borders in TTL using this as an excuse...
Thoughts?