ABSTRACT
Since encouraging Jewish immigration was the Yishuv’s primary response to National Socialism, it should not come as a surprise that thirty-eight conversations held between 1933 and 1935 by members of the Jewish Agency (JA) Executive (JAE) with the High Commissioner for Palestine General Sir Arthur Wauchope, dealt in whole or in part with aliya. The certificate situation would worsen in October 1934, again in conjunction with negotiations for a new schedule. At this time the British requested that, as the quid pro quo for a larger schedule, the JA issue a declaration denouncing illegal immigration. The JAE’s refusal to publicly condemn illegal immigration should not be construed as support for aliya bet. Indeed, a majority of the members of the Executive opposed illegal immigration. By 1935 the main crisis faced by the JAE was no longer to obtain adequate funding, but to secure an adequate supply of certificates.
