On Saturday June 29, 1946, the British mandatory government of Palestine placed Jewish towns and villages under curfew, conducting an extensive search for arms and documents. More than 2,700 people were arrested during Operation Agatha – Black Sabbath, in Yishuv parlance. Among them were members of the Jewish Agency Executive, including the director of its Political Department, Moshe Sharett (Shertok), Israel’s future first foreign minister. His Majesty’s government’s promise of November 2, 1917 to “view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people” had, evidently, gone sour.