The Zionist Commission for Palestine was a group chaired by Chaim Weizmann, president of the British Zionist Federation[1] following British promulgation of the pro-Zionist, Balfour Declaration of 1917. The Commission was formed in March 1918 and went to Palestine to study conditions and make their recommendations to the British authorities.[2] The Zionist Commission, including Weizmann and Israel Sieff as secretary, reached Palestine on 14 April, 1918; it ran into difficulties with the British military administration (OETA), which was far from sympathetic to Zionist aspirations. The Commission had gone to Palestine with the consent of the British Government and stayed there for some years.[3]
The Commission carried out initial surveys of Palestine and aided the repatriation of Jews sent into exile by the Ottoman Turks during World War I. It expanded the Palestine Office, previously founded by the ZO in 1908,[4] into small departments for agriculture, settlement, education, land, finance, immigration, and statistics.
In June 1918, representing the Zionist Commission, Weizmann traveled to southern Transjordan to meet Emir Feisal, during the British advance from the south against the Ottoman Empire in World War I. The intended purpose was to forge an agreement between Feisal and the Zionist movement to support an Arab Kingdom and Jewish settlement in Palestine, respectively. Neither side considered it necessary to consult the wishes of the Palestinian Arabs.[5]
Arab opposition to establishing a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine was led by Mohammad Amin al-Husayni as early as 1920. He was active in both opposing the British in order to secure the independence of Palestine as an Arab State, and led violent campaigns against Jews,[6] including the 1920 Palestine riots. He demanded the disbanding of the Zionist Commission and the expulsion of its leaders; this demand was ignored by the British military administration.[7] On 19 April 1920, elections were held for the Assembly of Representatives of the Palestinian Jewish community.[8] The Palin Report 1920 on the April riots, submitted in August 1920, though never published, was critical of both sides. By the time the Report was presented, the British Occupied Enemy Territory Administration had been replaced by a High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel. Weizmann became president of the Zionist Organization (ZO) in 1920
Further rioting took place between 1 and 7 May 1921. In October 1921, the Haycraft Commission of Inquiry laid the blame for the Jaffa riots of May 1921 on the Arab community, but otherwise the report was not acted upon.
In 1921, the Commission became the Palestine Zionist Executive, which acted as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, to advise the British mandate authorities on the development of the country in matters of Jewish interest.[9]