Ernest+Bevin

** by Madeline Crone, period 4  ** -Ernest Bevin was the British foreign secretary. He was concerned with the British defense of Middle Eastern oil fields and pipelines from the Soviets. Thus, he sought to create Arab goodwill, and so formed two different policies in an attempt to do so: 1. He opposed mass or large-scale Jewish immigration to Palestine 2. He attempted to get the United States involved in solving the refugee crisis as well as in gaining and securing the Middle East for the Western world. -These policies caused extreme dislike for Bevin amongst Zionists everywhere. He was attacked as being anti-Semitic, although he had supported the Zionists earlier and was not entirely opposed to a Jewish state in Palestine. However, he still held distinct prejudices against the Jews, a biographical tidbit that did not serve in his favor. -Bevin was “the strongman of the British Labor Party”, and refused to be intimidated by Zionist pressure. However, he didn’t want involvement in a major Palestinian conflict, and so attempted to make the United States take part and share the responsibility.
 * Ernest Bevin and his two policies **