Treaty·Modern
Balfour Declaration
- Date
- 2 November 1917 CE1336 AH109 years ago
- Place
- London
- People
- Arthur Balfour, Lord Rothschild
On 2 November 1917 CE, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour sent a letter to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community. It stated that the British government favored a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. It also said that nothing should be done to harm the rights of existing non-Jewish communities. The letter did not define borders or political status, and its wording became a major source of dispute.
Why it matters
The declaration became part of the British mandate for Palestine and is a central source of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.