Balfour Declaration

Arthur James Balfour, author of the Balfour Declartion of 1917.

Described as a “scrap of paper that changed history,” the Balfour Declaration led to the creation of the modern state of Israel as a land to which all Jews could return, if they wish. It directly resulted in the 1922 League of Nations mandate of the administration of the former Ottoman territory of Palestine to the United Kingdom. Phrases from the 1917 declaration regarding the establishment of a homeland for the Jews while not prejudicing the rights of other people resident in Palestine—that is, of the Arabs—were incorporated into the 1922 mandate. Controversially, the British had also given certain assurances to the Arabs about territory that they might control after World War I, assuming victory against the Ottoman Empire. The exact nature of these promises remains unclear but the term ”twice-promised” land has subsequently been used to describe Palestine as having been promised to the Jews and also to the Arabs.

Some regard the Balfour Declaration as providential, enabling the return of the Jews to Israel and eventually the unfolding of biblical prophecy. However, no clarity evolved on how a Jewish homeland might be established, or on how the rights of Arabs might be protected. Although the United Nations in 1947 drew up plans for two states, no mechanism for establishing these was created. Consequently, it was Jewish self-help that resulted in the declaration of an independent Israel. Lack of clarity on how a viable two-state reality could be achieved continues to characterize international involvement in efforts to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people. It is also unclear whether Lord Balfour envisaged an actual state, that is, a national, sovereign entity. He probably had a protectorate under British oversight in mind.

The Historical Context

The Balfour Declaration was a letter dated November 2, 1917, from Arthur James Balfour (1848–1930), British secretary of state for foreign affairs, formerly prime minister (1902–1905), to Lord Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation, a private Zionist organization committed to the creation of a Jewish homeland in Israel. The letter stated the position, agreed to at a British cabinet meeting on October 31, 1917, that the British government supported Zionist plans for a Jewish "national home" in Palestine, with the condition that nothing should be done that might prejudice the rights of existing communities there. This was a reference to the Arab population, mainly Muslim, although it included Christians too.

At the time, the area of Palestine was still under the control of the Ottoman Empire, and the borders of what would become Palestine had been outlined as part of the May 16, 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France. This agreement anticipated victory against the Ottomans and the parceling up of the empire between the European allies. Russia was also to have had a share, but following the revolution there it was not included in the final distribution. Libya went to Italy, France would control Syria and Lebanon, and Britain would control Iraq and Palestine. These territories were technically League of Nations mandates. Language from the declaration was later incorporated into the Treaty of Sèvres with Turkey and the British Mandate of Palestine (1922).. In 1922, the United States Congress voted to support the Balfour Declaration.

British pro-Jewish Sympathy

In exchange for the commitment in the declaration, the Jewish community would seek to encourage the United States to join World War I. That was not the sole reason, for there had long been considerable support in Britain for the idea of a Jewish homeland—but the timing was influenced by the possibility. As early as the 1840s, Lords Shaftesbury (1801–1885) and Palmerston (1784–1865) had supported the idea of a Jewish colony in Palestine. In 1903, the British had offered the Zionists part of Uganda in Africa for their homeland.

British sympathy towards the Jews dates at least from the time of Oliver Cromwell, who in 1655 allowed them to return to England following their expulsion in 1290. Cromwell may have thought that the New Jerusalem would be built, with their help, on British soil. Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881), a convert to Christianity from Judaism had openly championed the intellectual and cultural achievements of the Jews and in his writing he tried to counter the negative public image of Jews by presenting them positively. He campaigned in Parliament for the removal of surviving legal restrictions on the Jews. This led to the election of the first practicing Jew to sit in the House of Commons, Lionel de Rothschild in 1858. Disraeli was elected in 1837. It has been said that it was not the Jews who claimed Disraeli, but Disraeli who claimed the Jews. Disraeli may have believed that the destinies of the British and the Jews were somehow linked. Some saw Britain as the New Israel, destined to fulfill God's purposes on earth.

Promises to the Arabs

At the time that the declaration was made, British officials in Egypt, in correspondence with the sharif of Makkah, Hussein bin Ali, were involved in making a different set of assurances that in return for support against the Ottomans, the sharif would benefit from the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire. He aspired for an Arab state, stretching from Syria to Yemen. The British probably never had such a large territory in mind, but T. E. Lawrence (1888-1935), better known as Lawrence of Arabia, who represented British interests at the court of the sharif and helped to lead the legion he provided, presented plans to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, where he accompanied Prince Faisal (1885–1933) (later king of Iraq). This plan included dividing Iraq into Kurdish and Arab states, separate administrations for Arabs and Armenians in Syria and an Arab state to the south, including Palestine, with certain areas such as Baghdad and Basra under British control. The French would get Damascus, while some areas of mixed population would be autonomous, though under European protection. The British and other European powers already enjoyed various concessions from the Ottomans, which they wanted to keep. They also wanted to maintain a strategic presence in the area, and to retain access to oil supplies there. The British controlled Iran's oil, having acquired a concession there. What they really had in mind was an Arab client state. Although no official treaty existed, Sir Henry McMahon (1862–1949), British high commissioner in Egypt, gave assurances in several letters, including that of October 24, 1915. This stated, “Subject to the above modifications, Great Britain is prepared to recognize and support the independence of the Arabs in all the regions within the limits demanded by the Sharif of Mecca.” The exact borders, however, were left vague. The sharif assumed that Palestine would be included, but this is unclear. McMahon himself, in a letter to the London Times on July 23, 1937, wrote:

I feel it my duty to state, and I do so definitely and emphatically, that it was not intended by me in giving this pledge to King Hussein to include Palestine in the area in which Arab independence was promised. I had also every reason to believe at the time that the fact that Palestine was not included in my pledge was well understood by King Hussein.

The Events of World War I

The Mandate for Palestine, based on the Balfour Declaration, with the goal of establishing a Jewish homeland, instead gave Britain control of Palestine. However, the British half-kept their promise by installing one of Sharif Abdullah’s sons as king of Jordan, which they carved from out of Palestine, and another, Faisal (briefly also king of Syria) as king of Iraq. Subsequently, Palestine or Israel has been referred to as the “twice-promised” land. The sharif declared himself king of the Hejaz but lost power there to the Saudi revolt in 1924. Commenting on the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, MacMillan writes, “In spite of their wartime promises, neither the British nor the French were prepared to relinquish control of the Middle East, and the Arabs came to regard the Peace Conference as yet another betrayal by the Western powers." Indeed, the Sykes-Picot Agreement itself appears to have been interpreted differently by different players. Charles François George-Picot himself, who accompanied General Edmund Allenby (1861–1936) and T. E. Lawrence on their victorious march into Jerusalem on December 25, 1917, is said to have been pro-Jewish, believing that post-World War I French Jews would wield significant influence, in concert with American Jews, and should be kept happy. According to T. E. Lawrence’s account, Picot thought that his agreement would place Palestine under joint French, British, and Russian administration, thus he announced to Allenby that “tomorrow, my dear general, I will take the necessary steps to set up civil government,” but Allenby replied that “in the military zone the only authority [was himself].” He declared martial law. Allenby and the British always intended to exercise control of Palestine, and he had no intention of establishing any such administration. Lawrence had started to doubt the sincerity of the promises made when McMahon was dismissed from Cairo.

The French also regarded Syria as their territory, but the British installed Faisal as king under their protection, although this was short-lived. General Allenby is said to have carried his Bible with him everywhere. He had a deep sense of responsibility for Jerusalem. He dismounted from his horse to walk into the city and ordered that no shots should be fired, so that the city's capture would be peaceful, unlike the Crusader's conquest in 1099 and more like Saladin's re-conquest of 1187. Since Jerusalem was not of particular strategic influence, it has been argued that Allenby's interest was motivated by his interpretation of the Bible and by the belief that Britain had a role to play in the restoration of Israel. Reports of soldiers seeing visions of angels and of biblical images abounded.

Text of the declaration

The declaration, a typed letter signed in ink by Balfour, reads as follows:

Foreign Office,
November 2nd, 1917.

Dear Walter Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

"His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors 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".

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely,
Arthur James Balfour

Development and differing views

The record of discussions that led up to the final text of the Balfour Declaration clarifies some details of its wording. The phrase "national home" was intentionally used instead of "state," and the British devoted some effort over the following decades to denying that a state was the intention, including the Churchill White Paper (1922). However, in private, many British officials agreed with the interpretation of the Zionists that a state would be the eventual outcome.

An early draft used the word that in referring to Palestine as a Jewish homeland, which was changed to in Palestine to avoid committing to it being the whole of Palestine. Similarly, an early draft did not include the commitment to not prejudicing the rights of the non-Jewish communities. These changes came about partly as the result of the urgings of Edwin Samuel Montague, an influential anti-Zionist Jew and secretary of state for India, who, among others, was concerned that the declaration without those changes could result in increased anti-Semitic persecution.

Negotiation

One of the main Jewish figures who negotiated the granting of the declaration was Chaim Weizmann, the leading spokesman for organized Zionism in Britain. During the first meeting between Chaim Weizmann and Balfour in 1906, the Unionist leader was impressed by Weizmann's personality. Balfour asked Weizmann why Palestine—and Palestine alone—could be the basis for Zionism. "Anything else would be idolatry," Weizmann protested, adding, "Mr. Balfour, supposing I were to offer you Paris instead of London, would you take it?" "But Dr. Weizmann," Balfour retorted, "we have London," to which Weizmann rejoined, "That is true, but we had Jerusalem when London was a marsh."

Weizmann was a chemist who managed to synthesize acetone via fermentation. Acetone is needed in the production of cordite, a propellant needed to lob artillery shells. Germany had a corner on a key acetone ingredient, calcium acetate. Without calcium acetate, Britain could not produce acetone and without acetone there would be no cordite. Without cordite, Britain may have lost World War I. When Balfour asked what payment Weizmann required for the use of his process, Weizmann responded, "There is only one thing I want: A national home for my people." He eventually received both payments for his discovery and a role in the history of the origins of the state of Israel.

It has been reported that Balfour's sympathy with the plight of the Israelis was influenced by an illicit relationship with the wife of a high-ranking Jewish official.

Contradictory assurances

In a November 2002 interview with the New Statesman magazine, then-UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw blamed Britain's imperial past for many of the modern political problems, including the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The Balfour declaration and the contradictory assurances which were being given to Palestinians in private at the same time as they were being given to the Israelis—again, an interesting history for us, but not an honorable one.

However, the 1947 United Nations plan was for two states, a Jewish majority state and an Arab majority state. When, despite voting in favor of this plan (Muslim countries voted against), the international community failed to create any mechanism to put it into practice, and Israel declared independence (May 14, 1948).

External Links

• The Balfour Declaration, November 2, 1917 Retrieved June 15, 2007.
• What did the British promise to the Arabs? Retrieved June 15, 2007.
• League of Nations Palestine Mandate Retrieved June 15, 2007.
• United Nations Partition Plan, September 1947 Retrieved June 15, 2007.
• The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, May 14, 1948 Retrieved June 15, 2007.
• British White Paper of June 1922 Retrieved June 15, 2007.

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