The Balfour Declaration was a document of the British government, approved by the League of Nations, which allowed London to gain a foothold in Palestine for a long time, skillfully maneuvering between Jewish and Arab claims to create their own state.

The text of the Declaration was constructed in such a way that it contained two mutually exclusive parts:

The first part endorsed “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” and committed Great Britain to “use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object”. This formulation gave London the opportunity to reject Arab claims by referring to its obligations to the Jewish people and the international community.

The second part included a clause that effectively nullified the promises of the first part. The clause stated: “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”.

In fact, the British ruling class played a double game: on the one hand, it fueled anti-Jewish sentiments among the Arabs, and on the other, it referred to these sentiments as an objective obstacle to fulfilling its obligations.

As a result, in May 1939, three months before the outbreak of World War II, Great Britain officially renounced its commitment to “establishing in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people”, and in 1944 it closed Palestine to Jews. [1]........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)