Kedem Auction House is to sell an Israeli flag that flew on the mast of the SS Exodus, a ship that carried Jews from France to the Holy Land in 1947.  

At that time Palestine was under British mandate and none of the passengers aboard the ship were cleared for immigration.

The Exodus was a US paddle steamer formerly known as the President Warfield

The Exodus was boarded by the British Navy and forced to return to Europe. As the largest ship in a flotilla of vessels sailing for Palestine, it received extensive coverage around the world.  

The majority of its passengers were interred in camps in Hamburg, then under British occupation, which provoked furious headlines as many were survivors of the concentration camps.

Shortly after the incident the British withdrew from Palestine and the State of Israel was recognised in 1949.

The auction house explains: "The 'Exodus' affair was covered by the media all over the world and the photos of holocaust survivors deported behind barbed wire fences caused a severe shock.

"It seems that the media coverage led the British government to the conclusion that it cannot solve the problem of the Jewish refugees and to the resolution to allow the United Nations do so."

The flag is expected to make $100,000-120,000 when it auctions in Jerusalem on December 2.

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