Balfour Declaration

The Balfour Declaration, as it became known, was a letter sent on 2 November 1917 by the then Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour, to the Jewish community leader Lord Rothschild. The letter expressed support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”

Many Israelis regard the Balfour Declaration as an historic step on the road to statehood, but others argue that the Balfour Declaration laid the foundations for future conflict in the region. In July 2016, it emerged that the Palestinian Authority was preparing to sue the UK Government on account of the Balfour Declaration. Riyad al-Maliki, its Foreign Minister, claimed that the Declaration “gave people who don’t belong there something that wasn’t theirs.” News of the PA’s proposed lawsuit met with strong condemnation from supporters of the Balfour Declaration. Kenneth Jacobson, Deputy Director of Israel’s Anti-Defamation League, argue that such a move “will only play into the notion in Israel that the Palestinians will never reconcile themselves to Israel’s existence.”

As the centenary of the Balfour Declaration approaches, there has been much discussion as to how this anniversary should be marked in the UK. Mark Regev, Israel’s ambassador in London, has said he hopes to hold a “public celebration together with the British government.” However, the UK Government has not yet announced its plans. Tobias Ellwood, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, said in June that given the sensitivities surrounding the Balfour Declaration, he would use the word “mark” rather than “celebrate”. Precisely what form the commemorations will take, then, remains to be seen.