mahatma gandhi and the jewish national home 33surrounding these discussions, would meet with his [the Mahatma’s]
approval.”^34 Preoccupied with India’s own problems, the Mahatma was
not keen to get involved in the Palestinian issue and accepted their re-
quest. Once this limited objective was achieved, Zionist indiff erence to-
ward the Mahatma and India continued.
Eff orts to infl uence the Mahatma and, if possible, secure his support
for Jewish aspirations had to wait until mid- 1936. The timing of this at-
tempt once again points to unfolding events in Palestine. Shertok de-
cided to send Olsvanger to India as the special emissary of the Jewish
Agency. This happened shortly after the outbreak of a general strike in
Palestine that eventually culminated in the Arab Revolt of 1936– 1939,
which evoked strong responses in the wider Islamic world. Even if they
were not converted into concrete actions, one sees clarity and fore-
sightedness in Shertok’s thinking. Underlining the need to cultivate
Asian leaders, he observed that “once the confl ict between us and the
Arabs is conceived as one between Asiatics and Westerners or Western-
izers it becomes a matter of instinct— not even of po liti cal reasoning—
for the Hindus to side against the Jews.... It will clearly be much more
diffi cult to fi ght misconceptions after they have hardened and gained
currency than to prevent their formation.”^35 During his visit, Olsvanger
held a brief and uneventful meeting with Gandhi.
The following year, Kallenbach visited India and met the Mahatma
after a gap of twenty- three years. By then, the former was a supporter of
the Zionist goals in Palestine and brought with him a detailed exposition
of the yishuv activities prepared by the Jewish Agency. Although the
Mahatma “had indicated to Kallenbach his willingness to help Jews and
Arabs get together, it is signifi cant that he never made this off er public.”^36
To further this endeavor, the Mahatma’s close confi dant Reverend C. F.
Andrews was planning to visit Palestine.^37
Thus the Zionist approach toward Mahatma Gandhi functioned at
three distinct but interrelated levels. First, the leadership traced and en-
listed the support of those Jews who were acquainted with him in South
Africa. Shertok sought the help of Kallenbach to introduce Olsvanger to
the Mahatma and India.^38 Brodetsky and Sokolov met Gandhi in 1931 with
a letter of introduction from Polak. Second, a few offi cial Zionist emis-
saries made direct contacts with the Mahatma. Here one can cite Olsvan-
ger, A. E. Shohet (the editor of the Bombay- based Jewish Advocate), and
the Jewish delegation to the 1947 Asian Relations Conference as exam-
ples. One can also add Kallenbach, who visited India in 1937 and secured