"Once the British got the Balfour declaration into the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine (1920), and the establishment of a Jewish Agency, the British set about controlling Jewish immigration through the Jewish Agency. Remember this history is simultaneous with Lawrence and Faizal. I think I would say the Brits were not bumbling or indifferent. They were pro-actively suppressing Jewish immigration into Palestine. That become much clearer in the 30s when the Nazis took power and the need for immigration became obvious and desparate. The British stalled and put up more and more restrictions."
Segev takes on this thesis and demolishes it. The British made a few half-hearted attempts and issued a lot of rhetorical fluff about restricting Jewish immigration, he says, but they almost always gave in to Zionist demands in the end, in part, Segev says, because they thought the Jews controlled both New York and Moscow and had better be heeded. When the Nazis came along, they did issue more substantive restrictions, but these were were often just ignored.
Of course, I'm just parroting Segev's book, since I know nothing else, but the evidence he offers of British bumbling is extensive and breathtaking. And I'm still struck by this idea that anti-Semitism fueled the Balfour Declaration. That just blows my provincial mind.
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