imperialist. Joseph Chamberlain, the legendary colonial secretary, with uncanny foresight, it seems, realized the potential of Zionism as a means of furthering British overseas interests. His offer to create a Jewish settlement in northern Sinai was a part of a British plan to extend the frontiers of Egypt northward into Palestine to gain greater depth for the defense of the Suez Canal. The objective of nearly every Egyptian ruler, from the ancient pharaohs to Gamal Abd-el-Nasser, was to gain a foothold in Palestine to prevent hostile penetration of the Sinai Desert which might then threaten the Nile Valley. Chamberlain, with Britain's possession of Egypt and the Suez Canal, thought that Zionism might help him block any potential Turkish-German threat. It was the exact opposite of the objective that had appealed to the Kaiser when he briefly considered using Zionism for German interests.
The idea of a Jewish commonwealth in Palestine as an outpost for the British Empire was by no means new. In 1840 this idea was promoted by Lord Palmerston, who thought that a Jewish settlement in the Holy Land would help the Ottoman Empire, then supported by the British, against the Egyptians, who were supported by the French.
Palmerston wrote to his ambassador in Constantinople: "There exists at the present time among the Jews dispersed over Europe, a strong notion that the time is approaching when their nation is to return to Palestine.... The Jewish people, if returning under the sanction and protection and at the invitation of the Sultan, would be a check upon any future evil designs of Mehemet Ali or his successor. ... I have to instruct Your Excellency strongly to recommend [to the Turkish Government] to hold out every just encouragement to the Jews of Europe to return to Palestine." These were the very same arguments used 60 years later by Herzl and his successors. Mehemet Ali, the Egyptian dictator, was, in a way, the forerunner of the modern Arab national movement.
On August 17, 1840, there appeared an editorial in the