The British High Commissioner of Palestine viewed Jewish fighters there in the 1940s as analogous to Nazis, newly published records show.
On April 30, 1948, Alan Cunningham wrote to his superiors that as the Jews celebrated military successes, their “broadcasts, both in content and in manner of delivery, are remarkably like those of Nazi Germany.”
In another report, he said that the Jews were prepared for statehood and an “all-out offensive” with “all the equipment of a totalitarian regime.”
The reports were made public this week as part of a release of colonial administration records by the National Archives in London, the London Jewish Chronicle reported.
A week before the British departure from Mandate Palestine, the High Commissioner mistakenly believed that “all the ingredients of a successful truce were present,” the documents also showed. Cunningham wrote on April 30 that the Arabs’ “much vaunted liberation army” was “poorly equipped and badly led.”
He wrote, “In almost every engagement the Jews have proved their superiority in organization, training and tactics.”