blog post 11/15- Julia Kohn

What was the Balfour Declaration and how did the Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann convince the British government to make the declaration in November of 1917?

The British war cabinet issued the Balfour Declaration on November 2, 1917. Its aim was to establish a national home in Palestine for the Jewish people. Within the declaration, the British war cabinet clearly states, “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.” The cabinet further goes on to mention the rights and political statuses of the Jewish people may not be discriminated upon. Essentially, Chaim Weizmann convince the British government to make the declaration. Chaim had been a chemist whose advances in the production of acetone, which are used in explosive production, were crucial to the British war effort. Thus the doors of persuasion flooded to Chaim’s grasp: the British war cabinet was ready to listen.