The Zionist Commission, which arrived in British-controlled Palestine in April 1918, was an official delegation organized by the World Zionist Organization. Its purpose was to explore conditions in Palestine and...
The Zionist Commission, which arrived in British-controlled Palestine in April 1918, was an official delegation organized by the World Zionist Organization. Its purpose was to explore conditions in Palestine and to lay the groundwork for the establishment of a Jewish homeland, following the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The commission was led by Chaim Weizmann, a prominent Zionist leader who later became the first president of Israel.
Key members of the Zionist Commission included:
Chaim Weizmann –President of the British Zionist Federation, head of the commission and leader of the Zionist movement. Nahum Sokolow – Zionist diplomat and publicist. Joseph Cowen – British Jewish leader and philanthropist. Edwin Samuel Montagu – British Jew and member of the British government, though critical of Zionism. Sylvia d’Avigdor Goldsmid – Active in British Zionist circles, served as a secretary to the commission. Leon Simon – British intellectual and translator of Zionist works.David Eder – British psychoanalyst and Zionist leader. Aaron Aaronsohn – Agronomist and leader of NILI, the Jewish spy network aiding the British against the Ottomans.
These individuals played significant roles in shaping early Jewish-British relations and helped pave the way for later developments toward the establishment of Israel.