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61 L.Tarnopoler to the Board of the League for Friendly Relations with the USSR

COPY: CZA S25/486

Jerusalem, 22 May 1946

I deem it important to bring to your attention a concise summary of my conversation with the Soviet consul, Mr. Agaronov.1

Question: What is the USSR’s stand on the Palestine question?

Answer: He cannot offer a clear reply at this time. But it is clear to him that sooner or later the Palestine question will be raised at the UN General Assembly, and naturally his government’s representatives will then clarify the USSR’s position on the subject.

注释

1.Reuben Agaronov, Soviet vice-consul in Beirut, visited Palestine in May 1946 and, according to a British mandatory police surveillance report, on 7 May met with a delegation of the League for Priendly Relations with the USSR headed by Tarnopoler, Tsirulnikov and Itkin of the Poale Zion (Hagana Archives. Temp 15.131; original in mandatory Criminal Investigation Department archives microfilm 274,p.467).

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Q: Would it be correct to assume, based on Serezhin’s article in Novoe vremia,2 that the Soviet government has deviated from the stand which was taken by the delegation of Soviet trade unions at the international conference in London?3

A: He does not think that the support of the Soviet delegation for the abovementioned resolution was merely a passing episode. What was afterwards published in the Soviet press does not support the assumption of the Soviet government’s departure from the line reflected in the London resolution. He himself is not aware of any reason which could motivate the RUSS government to deviate from the stand taken by the delegation in London. This should not be construed to mean that the Soviet government, by supporting the London resolution, has become pro-Zionist. We have yet to be convinced that the Zionist movement, as the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, is independent, in other words it is not autonomous in setting its policy.

Q: Our press reported that Lozovskii4 was charged with investigating the Jewish problem and that the results of his study will serve as background material for the Soviet government in determining its stand on the Zionist demands of the Jewish people. What is the truth of this report?

A: He does not know anything about it. Perhaps. I have already said that the USSR government will soon formulate its stand on this question. The Soviet government is very interested in knowing what the Jewish proposals are for untangling the political knot that has been created here. The material that I collected on this question does not seem to be sufficiently reliable. The fact is that the information I received, for example, from a certain source in February, includes facts and assumptions which completely contradict the facts that are included in the information I was given in April.

Q: May I know what will be done with the vast amount of material---testyimonies given before the commission of enquiry---with which I provided you?

A: All this material will be immediately translated into Russian and transferred to the government of the USSR. At the same time, he added, his government wishes to obtain basic, objective material on the political situation in Palestine and on the various proposals which the Jews have raised and will raise toresolve the complex political problems.

注释

2.Tarnopoier was referring to the article signed by K. Serezhin, ‘Problems of the Arab East’ dated 1 February 1946, which revealed plans for establishing a Jewish state in Palestine but expressed doubts over the prospects for absorption of European Jews there.

3.See Doc.44,n.1.

4.Solomon Lozovskii, deputy foreign minister had responsibility for the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee.

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Q: Would you agree to having me arrange a meeting for you with the board of the Laegue for Friendly Relations with the USSR?

A: After I speak with the minister, I will be more than willing to meet with the league’s board in early June.