Nazis Shipped Arms to Palestinian Insurgents

I believed the relationship between the Nazis and the Palestinian Arabs was solid due to their shared enmity toward the Jews, although the full nature and history of that relationship have never been known in full until now...

The starting portions of the article:

British National Archives unveil presence of Nazi S.S. agents in Mandatory Palestine, working closely with Palestinian leaders
Yaakov Lappin

Historical documents in Britain’s National Archives in London show that Nazi Germany attempted to ship arms to Palestinian forces in the 1930s.

A British Foreign Office report from 1939 reports of “news of a consignment of arms from Germany, sent via Turkey and addressed to Ibn Saud (king of Saudi Arabia), but really intended for the Palestine insurgents.” Britain’s chief military officer in Mandatory Palestine also noted reports “regarding import of German arms at intervals for some years now.”

British documents from the same period, and German records photographed by an American spy and sent to the British government, said that a number of Nazi agents were sent to Mandatory Palestine, in order to forge alliances with Palestinian leaders, and urge them to reject a partition of the land between the Jewish and Arab populations.

One Nazi agent, Adam Vollhardt, arrived in Palestine in July 1938, and was reported to have gained strong influence with Arab leaders, meeting with Palestinian leaders throughout 1938. Vollhardt held several meetings with leading Arab politicians and told them “that the Palestine question would be settled to the satisfaction of the Arabs within a few weeks,” adding that “it would be fatal to their (Palestinians’) cause if at this juncture they showed any signs of weakness or exhaustion.”

“Germany was interested in the settlement of the (Palestine) question on the basis of the Arabs obtaining their full demands,” Vollhardt was reported to say to Palestinian leaders, according to a report by the British War Office. Vollhardt also assured Arab leaders that “the Germans could continue to support the Palestinian Arab cause by means of propaganda.”

Ynet.com source

Germany's historical involvement in the 20th century Middle East was through its mutual relationship with the Ottoman Turk Empire, which once controlled most of the Holy Land areas until its defeat to the Allied powers toward the end of World War I. Germany's role in the Middle East declined in the years after World War I but resurrected its diplomatic role in the mid-1930s under Adolf Hitler. The real key interests for Nazi Germany to get involved in the Middle Eastern affairs were 1) the reduction of British control of the Middle East; 2) to support the Arabs' cause against the Jewish agenda in the British-French mandate; and 3) access to oil.

This last part is pretty telling:

"If war were to break out, no trouble that the Jews could occasion us, in Palestine or elsewhere, could weigh for a moment against the importance of winning Muslim opinion to our side,” Britain’s Minister for Coordination of Defence, Lord Chatfield, told the British cabinet in 1939, shortly before Britain reversed its decision to partition its mandate, promising instead all of the land to the Palestinian Arabs.

It does seem the British beats the Nazis to the punch in order to win (to pander?) the Arabs' support to the British side. That fateful decision must have angered the Jewish side and sparked a quiet but brutal war against the British and the Arabs which was to last until 1948.

An interesting history that have never been known in full.

Originally posted by pawnplayer
It does seem the British beats the Nazis to the punch in order to win (to pander?) the Arabs' support to the British side.

Tell that to Rashid Ali and General Slim.

Or King Farouk of Egypt who was told throughout the war what his policies would be by Sir Miles Lampson, British Ambassador.

The only thing the Brits cared about was Basra and their oil supplies and they secured them by any means necessary.