THE BALFOUR DECLARATION 1917.

In the last section we looked at the number of Jews who fought with the British against the Turks in the Ottoman empire. Many Jews were very helpful to the allied cause and probably the most helpful of these was a man named Chaim Weizmann.

Chaim Weizmann was a Jew of Russian extraction, who became a British subject in1910. During the First World War he became the Director of the British Admiralty Laboratories and he achieved recognition from the British government when he developed a synthetic acetone, intended to be used in the manufacture of cordite, which was the explosive used to propel shells and bullets- both vital to the allied war effort. The problem, at the time, was that most of the sources of acetone were to be found only in German-occupied Africa and a synthetic acetone was at least as valuable at the time as gold bullion.

The British government asked Weizmann what he wanted in return of virtually winning the war for them. He told them that he wanted nothing for himself but that he wanted a home in Palestine for the Jewish people. The result of this was the Balfour Declaration:

Foreign Office

November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord 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,

(The original wording (see below) was “Palestine should be reconstituted as the national home of the Jewish People” but this was fiercely opposed by Sir Edwin Montagu, an assimilated Jew, who proposed the wording that was adopted.)

and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object,

(It was the British Zionists who also suggested inserting another paragraph which Lord Balfour included-

“..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,

Arthur James Balfour

The Balfour Declaration would, therefore, originally have read:

Foreign Office

November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild:

His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment of Palestine as the national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object,

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

Yours,

Arthur James Balfour

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BALFOUR DECLARATION’S AUTHOR WAS A SECRET JEW.

The author of the Balfour Declaration, Leopold Amery, is Jewish, according to Professor Rubenstein of modern history at the University of Wales. As the assistant secretary to the British war cabinet in 1917, Amery also helped to create the Jewish Legion. The Legion became the first organized Jewish fighting force since Roman times, and the precursor to the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).

Amery's 1955 autobiography merely mentions his mother, whom he said was on of the many Hungarian exiles fleeing Constantinople. He writes that his father is from an old English family.

Rubinstein's research revealed that Amery's mother was named Elisabeth Joanna Saphir, and the family lived in Pest, which later became Budapest, and the city's first Jewish quarter. He also found that her parents were both Jewish, and that Amery changed his middle name from Moritz to Maurice. This helped him disguise his identity.

Amery's sons took two very different paths in their acknowledgment of their heritage. John joined the side of the Nazis during World War II and was later hanged for treason. Julian became a member of Parliament and a solid supporter of the Jewish state.

Rubenstein has several theories as to why Amery hid his identity. Among them are a genuine fear of persecution, confusion as to his own personal faith after the conversion of his relatives to Protestantism, and possible roadblocks for his future political career. Additionally, he may not have wanted the Jewish community to pressure him for political favors.

Source: Davis Douglas, "Balfour Declaration's author was a secret Jew," The Jerusalem Post. (January 12, 1999)

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The Balfour Declaration was a letter of November 2 1917 from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour, to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation. It stated the position agreed at a British Cabinet meeting on October 31, 1917, that the United Kingdom supported Zionist plans for a Jewish national home in Palestine, though nothing should be done which might prejudice the rights of existing communities there.

At the time, the Ottoman Empire still had most of the area of Palestine under its control, and the borders of what would become Palestine had been outlined as part of the 16 May 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France. In exchange for the commitment in the declaration, the Jewish community would seek to encourage the United States to join World War I. That wasn't 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.

Wording from the Declaration was later incorporated into the Sèvres peace treaty with Turkey and the Mandate for Palestine.

The declaration read as follows:

Foreign Office

November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord 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 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."

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

Yours sincerely,

Arthur James Balfour

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 Montagu, 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.

Like the preceding Sykes-Picot Agreement, the declaration is viewed by many Arabs as a gross betrayal of Britain's undertakings to support Arab independence in the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence of 1915-1916.

One of the main Jewish personalities who negotiated the granting of the declaration was Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the leading spokesman for organized Zionism in Great Britain. During meetings in 1906 between Chaim Weizmann and Balfour, the Unionist leader was impressed by Weizman'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, then Britain may have lost the Great War. When asked what payment Weizmann would like, Weizmann responded, "There is only one thing I want. A national home for my people". He received both payment for the chemical work and a role in the history of the origins of the state of Israel.

Draft of Balfour Declaration on offer, MEIR RONNEN, Jerusalem Post, June 2, 2005 10:14

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The only known surviving autograph draft of the Balfour Declaration will be offered at Sotheby's New York on June 16, in a sale of the Simon archive of 175 documents that relate to the formation of the Jewish National Home.

The pencilled draft, made by Leon Simon at the July 17, 1917 meeting in London of the Zionist Political Committee, was, after the War Cabinet's modifications and the approval of Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour, later issued as the Balfour Declaration.

Simon was an English Zionist leader, Hebrew scholar and civil servant who was part of the circle of Manchester Zionists around Chaim Weizmann and his archive is estimated to sell for $500,000/$800,000. It includes letters from Weizmann, Sokolow and Harry Sacher.

Chaim Weizmann, the dedicated Zionist who had relocated from Germany to Manchester in 1914, was a chemist who made a critical contribution to the British war effort when he discovered a biological process for the production of acetone needed for the manufacture of naval munitions. Weizmann used his resulting influence with the British government and David Lloyd George, then Minister of Munitions, to get the War Cabinet to consider a declaration in favor of a Jewish homeland.

During the war, with the security of the Suez Canal also in mind, there was considerable competition among France, Germany and England for the support of the Jews. A French diplomat issued an expression of sympathy for the Jewish homeland on behalf of the French government in June of 1917. Later that same month, at Weizmann's urging, Harry Sacher, another key Zionist, began a draft of a British declaration; this was presented to the newly-formed Zionist Political Committee at a meeting at the Imperial Hotel in London on July 17, 1917.

The present archive includes a copy of Harry Sacher's early typed draft which was abandoned at the July 17 meeting; it contained a concept of a "chartered company" that would empower the Zionists to purchase land and initiate development projects.

The centerpiece of the archive is the final wording of the declaration agreed by the Zionist Political Committee, handwritten by Leon Simon on hotel stationery, dated "17/7/17" and listing the eight members of the committee present. A note in the upper right corner also suggests that Joseph Cowan, president of the English Zionist Federation, was asked to send copies to James Viscount Bryce and to Winston Churchill, the newly appointed Minister of Munitions. The declaration was accepted by Lord Rothschild who forwarded it to Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour. It read:

"H[is] M[ajesty's] G[overnment] accepts the principle that P[alestine] should be reconstituted as the Nat[iona]l Home of the J[ewish] P[eople]. HMG will use its best efforts to secure the achievement of this object, and will discuss the necessary methods and means with the Z[ionist] O[rganization]."

In three decisive meetings, the War Cabinet incorporated the views of Edwin Montagu, the new secretary of state for India and himself a Jew; and Lord Alfred Milner, former ambassador to the United States. Both feared that supporting a Jewish state would endanger Jews in other countries wishing to remain in those countries; and would impose upon the Palestinian Arabs the rule of a foreign people. Their concerns were expressed in the final two clauses of the amended declaration, while the wording of the first two was made a bit less committal when compared to the July 17 draft. The Balfour Declaration issued on November 2, 1917 read as follows:

The Archive of Leon Simon

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The LJS (London Jewish Society) response follows:

“With one step the Jewish cause has made a great bound forward. For centuries the Jew has been downtrodden depressed, hated and unloved by all the nations. For 2,000 years now the Jew has suffered as no other nation on the earth's surface in his restless wanderings. Wherever he has gone he has been ill-treated but now there is at least a prospect of his settling down once again in his own country, and of becoming in the eyes of men a Nation among the Nations in place of being a wanderer in every clime. He is now to have a home for himself in this God-given land. The day of his exile is to be ended.

What does all this mean for us Christians? In the light of prophetic scripture, we recognise that such an action on the part of our Government and on the part of the alied powers in being united in their resolve to reinstate the Jew in his own land is full of significance. Our Lord, when asked the question, “What shall be the signs of thy coming and of the end of the age,” gave one of the signs, in St Luke 21-24 to be that “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles (nations) until the times of the Gentiles (nations) will be fulfilled.” Ever since 70 AD Jerusalem and Palestine have been under Gentile domination, and now we seem to be on the very verge of a literal fulfillment of the last prediction, and it is certainly a distinct warning to us that the Lord “is near, even at the very doors.” (St Matthew 24:32)

The (London) “Times” Friday, November the 9th, 1917

(Taken from “For the Love of Zion” by Kelvin Crombie)

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“Lord Balfour said to me, ‘Both the Prime Minister [David Lloyd George] and myself have been influenced by a desire to give the Jews their rightful place in the world; a great nation without a home is not right.'

I said I was glad to hear that. I then asked, 'At the back of your mind do you regard this declaration as a charter for ultimate Jewish sovereignty in Palestine or are you trying to graft a Jewish population on to an Arab Palestine?'

Balfour waited some time before he replied, choosing his words carefully. 'My personal hope is that the Jews will make good in Palestine and eventually found a Jewish State. It is up to them now; we have given them their great opportunity’. “
Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen.

Many years later Meinertzhagen reflected:

“The Balfour Declaration grants to the Jews a right to establish their national home in Palestine. Every obstacle has been placed in their way by successive British Governments. Then Churchill in 1921 hands over Transjordan, an integral part of Palestine, to an Arab sheikh who is made a 'king'. Then Bevin, unable to keep order in Palestine and influenced by anti-Semitism in his office, scuttles out of Palestine leaving the Jews at the mercy of six Arab States who promptly invade Palestine and attempt what Bevin wished, to drive the Jews into the sea. Israel had to fight for her life in 1948, and lost much land including the whole of eastern Palestine, Old Jerusalem and the Gaza strip.”

THE AGREEMENT WITH THE EMIR HUSAYN 1915

The exchange of letters between the British and the Emir Husayn 1915.

The Sykes-Picot agreement 1915.

HOW MANY ARABS FOUGHT WITH THE BRITISH?

HOW MANY JEWS FOUGHT WITH THE BRITISH?

THE BALFOUR DECLARATION 1917.

The fall of Jerusalem 1917

Is Jordan Palestine?

ZIONIST PROPOSALS 1919

THE WEIZMANN/FAISAL AGREEMENT 1919

Lawrence’s Middle East peace plan

The League of Nations 1920

The San Remo agreement 1920

The White Paper 1922

The White Paper 1930

The Hope-Simpson report 1936

The British in Palestine 1936

Orde Wingate1936-1939

The White Paper 1939

Glubb Pasha

Winston Churchill on the Jews

THE FORSAKEN PROMISE