Date Created:
Place Created: London
Year Created: 1917
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Description: The Balfour Declaration, dated November 2, 1917, was a brief but momentous letter from Arthur James Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, to Lord Walter Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation. In it, His Majesty’s Government expressed support for the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, marking the first official endorsement of Zionist aims by a major world power.
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November 2nd, 1917
Dear
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
Citation: Yale Law School. “The Avalon Project : Balfour Declaration November 2, 1917.” Yale.edu, Yale Law School, 2019, avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/balfour.asp.
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