Arab Support for Zionism, 1917-1948

A Book Review

by Norman Berdichevsky (Feb. 2009)

ARMY OF SHADOWS
Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917-1948
by Hillel Cohen 
(translated into English by Haim Watzman University of California Press, Berkeley, 2008)

 
Those who are familiar with other historical conflicts should know better than to accept versions of the past from the vantage point of hindsight. All Americans have heard of Benedict Arnold, but most prefer to avoid any in-depth analysis of the extent to which American opinion on the eve of the Revolution was divided. Most historians today agree that roughly one third of the American population favored independence, another third was steadfastly loyal to the crown and in between were those hoping to maintain neutrality and avoid any decision until the outcome was determined.
From the very beginning of the Mandate, the Zionist movement sought out Arab leaders willing to cooperate. The policy was initiated by Chaim Kalvarisky who attempted to convince the Zionist leadership that it was possible to offer a variety of rewards that would tempt collaborationists, running the gambit from bribery, raising the general standard of living, manipulating inter-clan rivalries and providing convincing arguments that Zionism could not be extirpated and that an accommodation would be a much more farsighted policy than the eternal confrontation offered by the Mufti.
declining.”

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