November 2, 1917Primary sourceWell documented
The Balfour Declaration
On the timeline · around November 2, 1917 ·
What happened
In a letter to Lord Rothschild, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour declared that the government viewed 'with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people,' while pledging that nothing should prejudice the rights of the existing non-Jewish communities there.
Why it matters
Issued as Britain moved to take Palestine from the Ottomans, the declaration became a foundational and deeply contested document in the modern history of the Middle East.