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The question of Palestine had become increasingly unmanageable for Britain by 1947. After World War II the Mandatory government faced relentless Jewish immigration (legal and clandestine), guerrilla attacks by Zionist militias (including the 1946 King David Hotel bombing), and widespread Arab resistance. British leaders lamented that both communities showed “no inclination to live together under the same governmental umbrella,” and that Palestine had become a drain on British resources with no strategic payoff . Faced with mounting violence and international pressure, Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin announced on 14 February 1947 that Britain would refer the Palestine problem to the newly…