HC Deb 11 December 1946 vol 431 c1166
73. Major Tufton Beamish

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the total Jewish population in Palestine.

Mr. Creech Jones

The most recent figure available is for December, 1945, when the Jewish population was estimated as 579,227.

Major Beamish

Is the Minister aware that the number of ration cards issued at various times during the past year would seem to indicate that, in fact, the Jewish population is very considerably in excess of that number?

Mr. Creech Jones

I have no evidence of that.

Mr. Stokes

Can my right hon. Friend say whether the figure he has given is not more than nine times the population of Jews that existed in Palestine at the end of the last war?

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