ABSTRACT
Faysal's I's thinking and policy on Palestine were subordinate to his interests within Iraq and his ambitions towards Syria. Faysal's first encounter with Zionism took place in 1918, when Chaim Weizmann visited the camp of the Arab Revolt fighters in southern Transjordan. Faysal's relationship with the Zionists elicited objections from nationalist circles in Damascus and forced him into manoeuvres of denial and obfuscation. Faysal's aim was to undo the negative effect of the Balfour Declaration on Arab-British relations without actually demanding that it be revoked. Faysal went on to argue that any solution to the Palestine question would require active British involvement. Faysal for his part continued to work towards the foundation of a greater Arab state, to include not only Iraq and Syria but Palestine as well. Faysal feared that any exacerbation of the tension in the Middle East could adversely affect overall Arab-British relations as well as the internal situation within Iraq.
