ABSTRACT
The Royal Commission discussed both cantonization and partition in private sessions with Weizmann. The supporters saw the partition plan as the best possible solution available at the time; the current balance of forces left only two solutions to the Palestine problem: either minority status for the Jews or partition. The restrictions on Jewish land purchase were designed to guarantee the needs of the growing Arab population, and probably also to satisfy political considerations. Accepting the premise that the conflicting national aspirations of Palestinian Arabs and Jews were irreconcilable, the Commission proposed certain immediate palliative measures — the curbing of land purchase and immigration - and recommended partition as the best possible long-term solution. Opponents stressed that the neighboring Arab states as well as most Palestinian Arabs strongly opposed partition. The Royal Commission had recommended that the Galilee, populated mostly by Arabs, be included in the Jewish state.
