This week Rabbi David Woznica writes of pivotal events that led to the creation of the Modern State of Israel which are important for us, and our children, to know.
The Balfour Declaration—November 2, 1917
The British White Paper—May 17, 1939
With The Balfour Declaration having been approved by the British cabinet, Lord Arthur James Balfour, Foreign Secretary of the British Empire, wrote to Lord Rothschild (president of the British Zionist Federation):
“Dear Lord Rothschild,
His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object… I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
Yours,
Arthur James Balfour”
This was an extraordinary statement. The British had a mandate over Palestine and that mandate continued until the United Nations voted to partition for the State of Israel. The British ultimately withdrew from the land in 1948.
In 1939,in a stunning reversal, the British put out the “White Paper”, limiting the number of Jews who could immigrate to Palestine to a total of 75,000 people over five years. The paper said that Jews could only immigrate “if the Arabs are prepared to acquiesce in it” and “His Majesty’s Government now declares unequivocally that it is not part of their policy that Palestine should become a Jewish state.”
It was terribly cruel. At the onset of the Holocaust, when Jews needed a place to go, the British effectively closed the door.As Chaim Weizmann (who would become Israel’s first president) noted, “There are now two sorts of countries in the world, those that want to expel the Jews and those that don’t want to admit them.”
“Tune in” tomorrow to read of the United Nations Vote to create the modern State of Israel.
—Rabbi David Woznica