![]() This resolution simply took that idea that first began to emerge with Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the League of Nations charter of 1922 that provided international legitimacy for Jewish claims to statehood. It is important to remember that the state of Israel was not created by the Balfour Declaration, issued on the 2 nd of November 1917, or by the United Nations non-legally binding resolution 181, issued on the 29 th of November 1947. into the war as well as keep Russia in the war. They felt that a pro-Jewish declaration would force the U.S. The British cabinet also had an exaggerated sense of the “Jewish influence” in other countries. Additionally, they felt that the Declaration would express their gratitude to the Jews for their contribution in the Allied war effort. These people also felt that Great Britain was indebted to the famous scientist and Zionist leader Chaim Weitzman, who had found a way to synthetically produce acetone (a key component for munitions desperately needed by the British at the front). In addition, the Zionist sympathies of some members of the British Cabinet (Balfour, Samuel, Lloyd-George) were also a factor in its publication. (The Balfour Declaration was included in the preamble of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine). After the war the British were to be the custodians of a future Jewish State. They needed to justify their presence in the Middle East (specifically on the other side of the Suez Canal). The British issued the Balfour Declaration for a few different reasons. His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. The final draft of the Declaration read in full: After discussions in the British Cabinet and consultation with Zionist leaders, the decision was made known in the form of a letter by Lord Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild. During the First World War British policy gradually became committed to the idea of establishing a Jewish home in Palestine (Eretz Yisrael). The letter represents the first political recognition of Zionist aims by a Great Power. ![]() Today marks the 105 th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
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