 In May 1879, Oliphant was in Constantinople petitioning the Sublime Porte for permission to establish a Jewish agricultural colony in the Holy Land and settling large numbers of Jews there (this was prior to the first wave of Jewish settlement by Zionists in 1882).He did not see it as an impossible task in view of the large numbers of Christian believers in the United States and England who supported that plan.With financial support from Christadelphians and others in Britain, Oliphant amassed sufficient funding to purchase land and settle Jewish refugees in the Galilee.