BALFOUR DECLARATION

A letter dated 2 November 1917, the Balfour Declaration was sent by Lord Arthur Balfour, British minister of foreign affairs, to Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild, a Zionist philanthropist and one of the drafters of the declaration, following its revision and approval by the British war cabinet. It stated: "It is my great pleasure to express to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy for the Jewish Zionists' aspirations, which has been submitted to and approved by the Cabinet—'His Majesty's Government looks favorably on the establishment in Palestine of a national homeland for the Jewish people, and will apply all its efforts towards facilitating the realization of this objective, with it being clearly understood that nothing should be done that will prejudice either the civil and religious rights of non-Jewish communities existing in Palestine, or the rights and political status that Jews are accorded in other countries.'—I would be thankful to you for bringing this declaration to the attention of the Zionist Federation."

The Balfour Declaration was motivated by a number of factors. The British cabinet hoped to win the support of British and American Jews, thereby gaining Jewish money for Britain's war effort and benefiting from Jewish pressure on the United States to enter the war. In addition, Liberals like Balfour believed that the West had allowed historical injustices against the Jews and should now assist them, and prominent Jewish intellectuals in Britain were advocating for a Jewish State. The Balfour policy had long-term consequences, particularly for the Palestinians, who in 1917 formed 90 percent of the population but were mentioned only as "non-Jewish communities" in the declaration. British political support allowed the rapid growth of Jewish immigration to Palestine (from a Jewish population of 50,000 in 1917 to over 600,000 in 1947) and ultimately paved the way for the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and the departure of about 726,000 Palestinians.

SEE ALSO Balfour, Arthur James;British Mandate;Diaspora.