Why didn’t more Jews go to Palestine before the war?Why didn’t more Jews go to Palestine before the war?
The basic reason was that control over immigration to Palestine between the world wars was held by the mandatory power, the British, who cited the formal criterion of “economic absorptive capacity” to regulate Jewish entry in accordance with their own imperial and strategic interests. In essence, there were three legal ways to immigrate to Palestine before the war: • “Capitalist” visas were issued to immigrants who possessed capital of at least 1,000 Palestine pounds. To put this in perspective, the annual wage of a policeman in 1933 was less than 50 pounds; • Halutzim, young Zionist pioneers who had undergone a period of vocational—mostly agricultural—training abroad could enter the country as “laborers.” The exact number of certificates granted to laborers was determined by the Palestine Government in six-month “schedules” reflecting the economic situation at the time, especially the level of unemployment; • “Dependents”—direct relatives of Palestine residents. After 1937, in the wak
