Theodor Herzl met the person in charge of the British colonies and he begged him to let the Jews have Cyprus but he was told that that cannot be done. If he was given Cyprus, he planned to train a Jewish army and then take Palestine by force. Take a look:
Theodor Herzl Diaries – Vol 3 – Page 1023 – January 4th, 1901
We would rally on Cyprus and one day go over to Eretz Israel and take it by force, as it was taken from us long ago. But I slept on this all-too-lurid idea, and the night brought me the decision that at this moment the wisest thing was to say nothing
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