In 1944 the Germans planned to make existing tensions between Jews and Palestinians a great deal worse and planned. With the support of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (a piece of vermin who was in exile in Berlin and who had been involved in the raising of Muslim SS divisions in Bosnia and Albania) to arm Palestinian villagers and incite them to rise up against the Jews.
A small commando team of two German officers and three Arabs was formed in Berlin in early 1944. Their leader, Colonel Kurt Wieland, an Arabic speaker who knew Palestine, had several meetings with the Mufti and they agreed a plan: drop by parachute, establish a base, gather intelligence and radio it back to Berlin; and recruit and arm Palestinian supporters with Nazi gold.
The plan went very, wrong Before the team flew out, the Mufti's people meddled in Colonel Wieland's careful plans, changing his equipment without telling him. Their first flight was abandoned but when they were on their way, in October 1944, the pilot lost his way and flew too high when they began their jump. They had planned a landing north of Jericho but instead landed south, lost their radio equipment and became separated. Colonel Wieland and his two companions hid in an Arab village, in a cave and a ruined monastery. They found no support for any Arab uprising and were captured a week later. The other two men were never found.
It does not surprise me that the Germans tried to exploit tensions in Palestine but the timing of this intervention would have no affect whatsoever on the outcome of the war. I would have thought that it would have (from a German perspective that is) been far more effective had it taken place earlier (say 1941) when Britain was at its lowest ebb. Germany had already stirred things up in Iraq by supporting a coup by Rashid Ali. The British invasion or Iraq diverted forces that might have been better served in North Africa. Having to deal with an uprising in Palestine at the same time might have led to a British defeat in North Africa and the subsequent loss of oil supplies from Iraq and Iran... On the other hand it could have been the same farce it was in 1944.
Personally I am glad it was as ineffective as german attempts to put spies in Ireland or to raise a British SS formation.
