Balfour Declaration

A 1917 British government statement supporting the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, while requiring protection of existing communities’ civil and religious rights.

Arthur Balfour: British statesman who served as foreign secretary from 1916 to 1919 and issued the declaration in 1917. His letter to Lord Rothschild conveyed the British government’s policy.
Balfour Declaration text: The 67-word public statement in a letter dated 2 November 1917, setting out British support and stated safeguards. Its exact clauses define the commitment and the rights it reserved.
San Remo Conference: A 1920 Allied conference that assigned Britain the mandate for Palestine and endorsed the Balfour Declaration’s implementation. The conference gave the declaration’s policy a place in the postwar settlement.
Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca: Arab leader of the Hashemite family who launched the Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule during World War I. He received British assurances about Arab independence that were later contested alongside the declaration.
Chaim Weizmann: Chemist and Zionist leader who advocated for British support of a Jewish national home during World War I. His diplomacy helped build support for the declaration among British officials.
British War Cabinet: The senior British government committee that directed national policy during World War I. It approved the policy before Balfour sent the letter.
Palestinian nationalism: A national movement asserting the political rights and identity of the Palestinian people. Many Palestinians regarded the declaration as disregarding their political aspirations.
White Paper of 1939: A British policy statement restricting Jewish immigration to Palestine and proposing an independent state within ten years. It sharply limited the immigration policy associated with the national-home commitment.
Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild: British zoologist and peer who led the Rothschild family and received the declaration addressed to him. Balfour sent him the letter for transmission to the Zionist Federation.
League of Nations Mandate for Palestine: The League of Nations instrument governing British administration of Palestine from 1923 to 1948. It incorporated the declaration’s national-home commitment into an international mandate.

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