At the end of the First World War the area the design is called Eretz-Israel came under the official British control which lasted until May 1948. The League of Nations gave Great Britain a mandate to rule the region in order to develop it for the benefit of its inhabitants. The mandate aimed to develop the country and gradually guide its population towards self rule, that would ultimately lead to sovereignty and independence. As a political instrument of a new kind of Western colonialism, the mandate system was intended to promote British and French imperial interests in the region. It provided the British Empire with geographical control over the route to India and to its other colonies in Asia and secure its hold over energy resources in the Middle East. The British mandate replaced the military regime that controlled the area after the war. It operated for almost 30 years through a colonial civic bureaucracy headed by a British high commissioner and his officers. They introduced European methods of administration to the area which set up a modern infrastructure. The British named the area Palestine and upon Zionist request Palestine Eretz-Israel in Hebrew. The drew the border of the land according to the colonial system that reflected European diplomacy. Initially the land included a territory spreading from the Mediterranean coastal line in the west to the Transjordan Desert in the east. In 1922, Great Britain separated between Palestine and the Hashemite Dynasty of Transjordan, known today as Jordan. From 1918 to 1921, the border of the mandatory Palestine were negotiated between Britain and France and were finally approved by the League of Nations in 1922. About 60,000 Jews and half a million Arabs populated the land at the beginning of British mandate. When the mandate ended in 1948, 600,000 Jews and 1.2 million Arabs reside in the country. This number indicates that both communities increase their population during the period. But the Jewish growth ratio outnumbered the Arabs'. This is the outcome of new waves of Jewish immigration that took place during the 20s and the 30s. The British policy at least in 1939, aimed to help both communities under the principle of balanced commitment. British authority financed projects such as roads, water and irrigation systems, rail roads, new harbors, postal networks, telephone lines, airports, forestry, and radio broadcasting. They even built local police forces. They gave money to build schools and hospitals, to promote films and business and agriculture and industry and help to establish financial institutions. In reality, the Jews benefit from the British initiatives much more than the Arab. Why were the outcomes so unbalanced in spite of British policy of balanced commitment? On a practical level, the Jewish community was basically a European community with a higher level of technical skills, better education and higher literacy rate than the Arab community. They knew much better than the local Arabs how to utilize the British input effectively. They had manpower that could translate potential British support three projects of more than development. On the official political level, the mandate charter that was given to Great Britain by the League of Nations explicitly stated the following points. One, that Great Britain will secure the establishment of a Jewish national homeland by creating a political, an economic, an administrative means for such an endeavor. Two, that Great Britain will consult the Jewish Agency, a representative body of world Jewry in the process of implementing the Balfour Declaration. Three, that Great Britain will facilitate Jewish immigration and settlement. Four, Great Britain was also obliged not to do anything that would obstruct the rights of the non-Jewish ethnic groups and to encourage the development of Palestinian Arab community in the land. It is clear from the official mandate document that while the British task towards Zionist Jews is active and action orientated, the attitude towards the local Arab remained passive and protective at best. Thus on the surface, the British administration tried to promote both communities. But it in fact assisted the Jews more than the Arabs. Anyway, the British found themselves occasionally blamed by both Jews and Arabs, as favoring the other side. It seems to the Arabs that Great Britain was much more favorable toward the Zionist goal and many of them viewed this policy as a Pro Zionist form of European colonialism. The fact that the first British High commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel, a Jewish supporter of the Balfour Declaration intensified such Arab suspicions. Overall in the 20s and 30s, the mandate assisted the Zionists to accomplish their goal of creating a viable national community in the land. It was called in Hebrew by the term Yishuv. Namely the Jewish community that developed in Palestine. The British authority, despite some drawbacks overall encouraged the development of a Zionist political institutions. They partly financed Hebrew education. They permitted and even facilitated Jewish immigration and Jewish land purchasing and settlement, at least until 1936. They help with relief programs in time of economic difficulties. They initiate the project that modernized the country such as building the Haifa or constructing a power plant on the Jordan river. They built a modern court system that set the ground for legal system that helps secure life and property. Great Britain failed in it's initial attempt to build the legislative council in Palestine that would represent it's citizens proportionately. They suggested that the body would represent the population but both communities refused to participate. The Jews opposed such an offer because it would affect their minority status. The Arabs opposed it because they rejected any political cooperation with the Zionists whom they perceived as colonial invaders.