By mid-1918, the fortunes of war turned against Germany and the Turkish empire. By year's end, armistices were signed with the Allies, and British forces were in control of Palestine. Plans were aired for an international organization of states that would preside over the hopefully peaceful world emerging from the devastation of trench warfare. A central element of those plans was an anti-colonialist plank. The victorious allies, in particular France and Britain, would not take as colonies the Arab territories they were now occupying. But neither would they set them free. Instead, France and Britain would remain in control, but subject to the scrutiny of the new international organization.

A conference was called in the Paris suburb of Versailles that would lead to the formation of a League of Nations. Peace treaties would be elaborated, and a mechanism arranged for oversight of the territories changing hands, including Palestine under British administration.

The Zionist Organization, having gained endorsement for Zionism from Britain, now maneuvered to see that endorsement solidified in the arrangements being made at the Paris Peace Conference for the future of the Arab territories.

Success for the Zionist Organization was far from assured. Palestine Arabs convened in a Palestine Arab Congress in January 1919 and made plans for Palestine to become independent, either by itself or together with Syria. Were those plans to materialize, Zionism would have little role in Palestine. The Allies conferring in Paris, moreover, were writing a covenant for the League of Nations that would enshrine self-determination as a watchword. The wishes of local populations were to occupy center stage in the administration of the territories that were changing hands, in particular the Arab territories being carved out of the Turkish empire. That orientation might be the death knell for the efforts of the Zionist Organization at gaining territory in Palestine.

At the same time, Britain's desire to retain control in Palestine, even if under oversight by the League of Nations, gave the Zionist Organization an opening. A Jewish deputation was granted a hearing at the Paris Peace Conference. The Zionist Organization was invited to testify before what was called the Council of Ten, a committee made up of two representatives each from Britain, Italy, France, Japan, and the United States.