Table of Contents

Illustrations Tables Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter One. State, Territory, and Boundaries: A General Discussion * Territorial Behavior * The Roles of Territory * Territory and the State * Territory and the Nation-State * Geopolitics and International Relations * Boundaries * Territorial Decisions Chapter Two. The Background * Boundaries of Palestine (E.I.) * Establishment of the Royal Commission: External Events * Establishment of the Royal Commission: Internal Events * Chronology of Main Events Chapter Three. The Predecision Phase * Jewish Testimony Before the Royal Commission * El-Husseini's Testimony Before the Royal Commission * Zionist Attempts to Influence the Commission's Report * The Internal Debate Before Publication of the Report * Recommendations of the Royal Commission Chapter Four. Choice Analysis * Main Choices * Positions at the Decision Crossroad, 1937 * The Arguments Chapter Five. Predecision Positions * Initial Reactions to the Report * Division Within the Labor Parties and the Left * Division Within the Center and the Right Parties * Division Within the Religious and Ultra-Orthodox Parties * Additional Positions * Positions on the Eve of the Decision Chapter Six. The Opponents * Opposing the State * Statehood: The Question of Timing * Sovereignty, Yes; Partition, No * Summary of the Opponents' Positions Chapter Seven. The Undecided * Extent of Territory * Boundaries and Security * Demography and the Question of "Transfer" * Territories for Peace Chapter Eight. The Proponents * Partition Without Preconditions * Partition as the "Right" Solution * Total Support * Summary of the Proponents' Positions Chapter Nine. The Decision * The Main Resolutions * The Opposition * The Decision-Making Process * The Decision: Instrumental Pragmatism * In the Wake of the 1937 Decision Chapter Ten. 1937 and Its Aftermath * Land and Settlement Policy: 1936-1939 * The "Arab Question" in the Zionist Decision * State, Territory, and Boundaries: The Meaning of the 1937 Decision * Territorial Decisions Chapter Eleven. Territorial Decisions in the Zionist Movement (1919-1949) * 1919 * 1937 * 1947 * Conclusions Notes Bibliography * Archives Index

About the Author

Itzhak Galnoor is Professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and editor of the Eshkolot Library, a book series on society and politics in Israel. He was awarded the Naftali Prize in Social Sciences in 1987 for his book Steering the Polity-Communications and Politics in Israel.

Reviews

"The merits of this study are of an uncommon order. It is an impressive use of rich historical materials by a political scientist to clarify crucial concepts - state, nation, territory, sovereignty, boundaries - and to probe fundamental issues. Galnoor examines the relative importance of geography and politics, pragmatism and ideology, in the choice among options on a fateful issue that is suffused with passion; the decision process; coalition-building; and the role of perceptions and attitudes in political behavior, in this case a turning point vote by a national movement. It is a highly analytical work, with a well-articulated framework and clearly defined categories, concepts, and research questions." - Michael Brecher, McGill University "I found this book fascinating. As I read, I was constantly discussing it with those around me. It illuminated the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict from a perspective I had not thought much about." - Joel S. Migdal, University of Washington