Jerusalem: The Biography

* Lloyd George’s mission was to win the war and everything else was subordinate to that. So it was no surprise that he was also considering a fourth Middle Eastern option: he was negotiating indirectly and very secretly with the Three Pashas over a separate Ottoman peace that would betray Jews, Arabs and French by leaving Jerusalem under the sultan. ‘Almost the same week that we’ve pledged ourselves to secure Palestine as a national home for the Jewish People,’ wrote an exasperated Curzon, ‘are we to contemplate leaving the Turkish flag flying over Jerusalem?’ The talks came to nothing.