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originally made on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His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
nonJewish 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 selfgoverning
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 cooperating
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 organization, so long as its organization 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 cooperation 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 cooperation
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 aforementioned
privileges and immunities on August 1st, 1914, shall have previously
renounced the right to their reestablishment, or shall have
agreed to their nonapplication for a specified period, these
privileges and immunities shall, at the expiration of the mandate,
be immediately reestablished 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
be utilised by it 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 special 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 organist
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 armed forces
and the carriage of 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 communication
or literary, artistic or industrial property.
ARTICLE 20. The Mandatory shall cooperate 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 following rules. This law shall
ensure equality of treatment in the matter of excavations and
archaeological research to the nationals of all States Members
of the League of Nations.
(1) "Antiquity" means any construction or any product
of human activity earlier than the year 1700 A. D.
(2) The law for the protection of antiquities shall proceed by
encouragement rather than by threat.
Any person who, having discovered an antiquity without being furnished
with the authorization referred to in paragraph 5, reports the
same to an official of the competent Department, shall be rewarded
according to the value of the discovery.
(3) No antiquity may be disposed of except to the competent Department,
unless this Department renounces the acquisition of any such antiquity.
No antiquity may leave the country without an export licence from
the said Department.
(4) Any person who maliciously or negligently destroys or damages
an antiquity shall be liable to a penalty to be fixed.
(5) No clearing of ground or digging with the object of finding
antiquities shall be permitted, under penalty of fine, except
to persons authorised by the competent Department.
(6) Equitable terms shall be fixed for expropriation, temporary
or permanent, of lands which might be of historical or archaeological
interest.
(7) Authorization to excavate shall only be granted to persons
who show sufficient guarantees of archaeological experience. The
Administration of Palestine shall not, in granting these authorizations,
act in such a way as to exclude scholars of any nation without
good grounds.
(8) The proceeds of excavations may be divided between the excavator
and the competent Department in a proportion fixed by that Department.
If division seems impossible for scientific reasons, the excavator
shall receive a fair indemnity in lieu of a part of the find.
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 SecretaryGeneral of the League of Nations to all
members of the League.
Done at London the twentyfourth day of July, one thousand
nine hundred and twentytwo.