MANDATE FOR PALESTINE

The Council of the League of Nations:

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have agreed, for the purpose of
giving effect to the provisions of Article 22 of the Covenant of the
League of Nations, to entrust to a Mandatory selected by the said Powers
the administration of the territory of Palestine, which formerly
belonged to the Turkish Empire, within such boundaries as may be fixed
by them; and

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory
should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally
made on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty,
and adopted by the said Powers, in favor of the establishment in
Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly
understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil
and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or
the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country;
and

Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection
of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for
reconstituting their national home in that country; and

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have selected His Britannic Majesty
as the Mandatory for Palestine; and

Whereas the mandate in respect of Palestine has been formulated in the
following terms and submitted to the Council of the League for approval;
and

Whereas His Britannic Majesty has accepted the mandate in respect of
Palestine and undertaken to exercise it on behalf of the League of
Nations in conformity with the following provisions; and

Whereas by the aforementioned Article 22 (paragraph 8), it is provided
that the degree of authority, control or administration to be exercised
by the Mandatory, not having been previously agreed upon by the Members
of the League, shall be explicitly defined by the Council of the League
of Nations;

Confirming the said mandate, defines its terms as follows:

ARTICLE 1.

The Mandatory shall have full powers of legislation and of
administration, save as they may be limited by the terms of this
mandate.

ARTICLE 2.

The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such
political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the
establishment of the Jewish national home, as laid down in the preamble,
and the development of self-governing institutions, and also for
safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of
Palestine, irrespective of race and religion.

ARTICLE 3.

The Mandatory shall, so far as circumstances permit, encourage local
autonomy.

ARTICLE 4.

An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognised as a public body for
the purpose of advising and co-operating with the Administration of
Palestine in such economic, social and other matters as may affect the
establishment of the Jewish national home and the interests of the
Jewish population in Palestine, and, subject always to the control of
the Administration, to assist and take part in the development of the
country.

The Zionist organisation, so long as its organisation and constitution
are in the opinion of the Mandatory appropriate, shall be recognised as
such agency.
It shall take steps in consultation with His Britannic Majesty’s
Government to secure the co-operation of all Jews who are willing to
assist in the establishment of the Jewish national home.

ARTICLE 5.

The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that no Palestine
territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the
control of, the Government of any foreign Power.

ARTICLE 6.

The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the rights and
position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, shall
facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall
encourage, in co-operation with the Jewish agency referred to in Article
4, close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste
lands not required for public purposes.

ARTICLE 7.

The Administration of Palestine shall be responsible for enacting a
nationality law. There shall be included in this law provisions framed
so as to facilitate the acquisition of Palestinian citizenship by Jews
who take up their permanent residence in Palestine.

ARTICLE 8.

The privileges and immunities of foreigners, including the benefits of
consular jurisdiction and protection as formerly enjoyed by capitulation
or usage in the Ottoman Empire, shall not be applicable in Palestine.

Unless the Powers whose nationals enjoyed the above-mentioned privileges
and immunities on August 1st, 1914, shall have previously renounced the
right to their re-establishment, or shall have agreed to their
non-application for a specified period, these privileges and immunities
shall, at the expiration of the mandate, be immediately re-established
in their entirety or with such modifications as may have been agreed
upon between the Powers concerned.

ARTICLE 9.

The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that the judicial system
established in Palestine shall assure to foreigners, as well as to
natives, a complete guarantee of their rights.

Respect for the personal status of the various peoples and communities
and for their religious interests shall be fully guaranteed. In
particular, the control and administration of Wakfs shall be exercised
in accordance with religious law and the dispositions of the founders.

ARTICLE 10.

Pending the making of special extradition agreements relating to
Palestine, the extradition treaties in force between the Mandatory and
other foreign Powers shall apply to Palestine.

ARTICLE 11.

The Administration of Palestine shall take all necessary measures to
safeguard the interests of the community in connection with the
development of the country, and, subject to any international
obligations accepted by the Mandatory, shall have full power to provide
for public ownership or control of any of the natural resources of the
country or of the public works, services and utilities established or to
be established therein. It shall introduce a land system appropriate to
the needs of the country, having regard, among other things, to the
desirability of promoting the close settlement and intensive cultivation
of the land.

The Administration may arrange with the Jewish agency mentioned in
Article 4 to construct or operate, upon fair and equitable terms, any
public works, services and utilities, and to develop any of the natural
resources of the country, in so far as these matters are not directly
undertaken by the Administration. Any such arrangements shall provide
that no profits distributed by such agency, directly or indirectly,
shall exceed a reasonable rate of interest on the capital, and any
further profits shall either be reinvested in the undertakings or be
utilised for the benefit of the country in a manner approved by the
Administration.

ARTICLE 12.

The Mandatory shall be entrusted with the control of the foreign
relations of Palestine and the right to issue exequaturs to consuls
appointed by foreign Powers. He shall also be entitled to afford
diplomatic and consular protection to citizens of Palestine when outside
its territorial limits.

ARTICLE 13.

All responsibility in connection with the Holy Places and religious
buildings or sites in Palestine, including that of preserving existing
rights and of securing free access to the Holy Places, religious
buildings and sites and the free exercise of worship, while ensuring the
requirements of public order and decorum, is assumed by the Mandatory,
who shall be responsible solely to the League of Nations in all matters
connected herewith, provided that nothing in this article shall prevent
the Mandatory from entering into such arrangements as he may deem
reasonable with the Administration for the purpose of carrying the
provisions of this article into effect; and provided also that nothing
in this mandate shall be construed as conferring upon the Mandatory
authority to interfere with the fabric or the management of purely
Moslem sacred shrines, the immunities of which are guaranteed.

ARTICLE 14.

A Commission shall be appointed by the Mandatory to study, define and
determine the rights and claims in connection with the Holy Places and
the rights and claims relating to the different religious communities in
Palestine. The method of nomination, the composition and the functions
of this Commission shall be submitted to the Council of the League for
its approval, and the Commission shall not be appointed or enter upon
its functions without the approval of the Council.

ARTICLE 15.

The Mandatory shall see that complete freedom of conscience and the free
exercise of all forms of worship, subject only to the maintenance of
public order and morals, are ensured to all. No discrimination of any
kind shall be made between the inhabitants of Palestine on the ground of
race, religion or language. No person shall be excluded from Palestine
on the sole ground of his religious belief.

The right of each community to maintain its own schools for the
education of its own members in its own language, while conforming to
such educational requirements of a general nature as the Administration
may impose, shall not be denied or impaired.

ARTICLE 16.

The Mandatory shall be responsible for exercising such supervision over
religious or eleemosynary bodies of all faiths in Palestine as may be
required for the maintenance of public order and good government.
Subject to such supervision, no measures shall be taken in Palestine to
obstruct or interfere with the enterprise of such bodies or to
discriminate against any representative or member of them on the ground
of his religion or nationality.

ARTICLE 17.

The Administration of Palestine may organise on a voluntary basis the
forces necessary for the preservation of peace and order, and also for
the defence of the country, subject, however, to the supervision of the
Mandatory, but shall not use them for purposes other than those above
specified save with the consent of the Mandatory. Except for such
purposes, no military, naval or air forces shall be raised or maintained
by the Administration of Palestine.

Nothing in this article shall preclude the Administration of Palestine
from contributing to the cost of the maintenance of the forces of the
Mandatory in Palestine.

The Mandatory shall be entitled at all times to use the roads, railways
and ports of Palestine for the movement of its forces and the carriage
of its fuel and supplies.

ARTICLE 18.

The Mandatory shall see that there is no discrimination in Palestine
against the nationals of any State Member of the League of Nations
(including companies incorporated under its laws) as compared with those
of the Mandatory or of any foreign State in matters concerning taxation,
commerce or navigation, the exercise of industries or professions, or in
the treatment of merchant vessels or civil aircraft. Similarly, there
shall be no discrimination in Palestine against goods originating in or
destined for any of the said States, and there shall be freedom of
transit under equitable conditions across the mandated area.

Subject as aforesaid and to the other provisions of this mandate, the
Administration of Palestine may, on the advice of the Mandatory, impose
such taxes and customs duties as it may consider necessary, and take
such steps as it may think best to promote the development of the
natural resources of the country and to safeguard the interests of the
population. It may also, on the advice of the Mandatory, conclude a
special customs agreement with any State the territory of which in 1914
was wholly included in Asiatic Turkey or Arabia.

ARTICLE 19.

The Mandatory shall adhere on behalf of the Administration of Palestine
to any general international conventions already existing, or which may
be concluded hereafter with the approval of the League of Nations,
respecting the slave traffic, the traffic in arms and ammunition, or the
traffic in drugs, or relating to commercial equality, freedom of transit
and navigation, aerial navigation and postal, telegraphic and wireless
communications or literary, artistic or industrial property.

ARTICLE 20.

The Mandatory shall co-operate on behalf of the Administration of
Palestine, so far as religious, social and other conditions may permit,
in the execution of any common policy adopted by the League of Nations
for preventing and combating disease, including diseases of plants and
animals.

ARTICLE 21.

The Mandatory shall secure the enactment within twelve months from this
date, and shall ensure the execution of a Law of Antiquities based on
the principles contained in Article 421 of the Treaty of Sèvres. This
law shall replace the former Ottoman Law of Antiquities, and shall
ensure equality of treatment in regard to excavations and archaeological
research to the nationals of all States Members of the League of
Nations.

ARTICLE 22.

English, Arabic and Hebrew shall be the official languages of Palestine.
Any statement or inscription in Arabic on stamps or money in Palestine
shall be repeated in Hebrew and any statement or inscription in Hebrew
shall be repeated in Arabic.

ARTICLE 23.

The Administration of Palestine shall recognise the holy days of the
respective communities in Palestine as legal days of rest for the
members of such communities.

ARTICLE 24.

The Mandatory shall make to the Council of the League of Nations an
annual report to the satisfaction of the Council as to the measures
taken during the year to carry out the provisions of the mandate. Copies
of all laws and regulations promulgated or issued during the year shall
be communicated with the report.

ARTICLE 25.

In the territories lying between the Jordan and the eastern boundary of
Palestine as ultimately determined, the Mandatory shall be entitled,
with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations, to postpone or
withhold application of such provisions of this mandate as he may
consider inapplicable to the existing local conditions, and to make such
provision for the administration of the territories as he may consider
suitable to those conditions, provided that no action shall be taken
which is inconsistent with the provisions of Articles 15, 16 and 18.

ARTICLE 26.

The Mandatory agrees that, if any dispute whatever should arise between
the Mandatory and another Member of the League of Nations relating to
the interpretation or the application of the provisions of the mandate,
such dispute, if it cannot be settled by negotiation, shall be submitted
to the Permanent Court of International Justice provided for by Article
14 of the Covenant of the League of Nations.

ARTICLE 27.

The consent of the Council of the League of Nations is required for any
modification of the terms of this mandate.

ARTICLE 28.

In the event of the termination of the mandate hereby conferred upon the
Mandatory, the Council of the League of Nations shall make such
arrangements as may be deemed necessary for safeguarding in perpetuity,
under guarantee of the League, the rights secured by Articles 13 and 14,
and shall use its influence for securing, under the guarantee of the
League, that the Government of Palestine will fully honour the financial
obligations legitimately incurred by the Administration of Palestine
during the period of the mandate, including the rights of public
servants to pensions or gratuities.

The present instrument shall be deposited in original in the archives of
the League of Nations and certified copies shall be forwarded by the
Secretary-General of the League of Nations to all Members of the League.

Done at London the twenty-fourth day of July, one thousand nine hundred
and twenty-two.

Note on Transjordan (Memorandum by the British Government, approved September 16, 1922):

The British Government submitted a memorandum to the Council of the
League of Nations on September 16, 1922, relating to the application of
Article 25 of the Mandate, which was approved. The memorandum clarified
that certain provisions of the Mandate, particularly those related to
the establishment of the Jewish national home, would not apply to the
territory known as Transjordan (east of the Jordan River). The key
points are as follows:

-   Articles Not Applicable in Transjordan: Articles 4, 6, 7 (the
    sentence regarding Palestinian citizenship for Jews), 11 (second
    sentence of the first paragraph and the second paragraph), 13, 14,
    22, and 23 were declared inapplicable to Transjordan.
-   Administration: In Transjordan, actions that would be taken by the
    Administration of Palestine would be undertaken by the
    Administration of Transjordan under the general supervision of the
    Mandatory.
-   Responsibility: His Britannic Majesty’s Government accepted full
    responsibility as Mandatory for Transjordan and undertook that the
    administration of the territory would be consistent with the
    provisions of the Mandate not declared inapplicable.