Balfour Declaration: Britain Backs Jewish Homeland
British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote 67 words to Lord Walter Rothschild on November 2, 1917, declaring British support for 'the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.' Britain didn't own Palestine; it was still Ottoman territory, though British forces would capture Jerusalem six weeks later. The declaration also stated that 'nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine,' meaning the Arab majority. Both promises were impossible to keep simultaneously. The Balfour Declaration was motivated by wartime strategy: Britain hoped to win Jewish support in the U.S. and Russia while securing a loyal population near the Suez Canal. The 67 words shaped a century of conflict that remains unresolved.
November 2, 1917
109 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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