The Balfour Declaration and the White Paper Policy - A History of Zionism

The Zionist movement began in the late 19th century in an effort to create a Jewish state in Palestine, where the Jews had been cast out centuries earlier. While the movement started out small, it soon gained international recognition.

Arthur James Balfour

In 1917, 20 years after the first Zionist Congress in Switzerland, the British foreign secretary, Arthur James Balfour, wrote a letter to Lionel Walter Rothschild, one of the most prominent Zionists in Britain at the time. The letter, best known as the Balfour Declaration, promised "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". While it seemed an act of goodwill to the Jews, there were also a few ulterior motives. First, the British hoped that the Declaration would ensure Jewish support for the Allies in World War I. Second, they hoped that the establishment of a pro-British Jewish state in Palestine would help protect the Suez Canal, a pathway vital for the British to access India.

Despite the seemingly unprecedented offer the Balfour Declaration presented, many Zionists were still unsatisfied. Namely, they wanted an area in Palestine to be the home for the Jewish people, not a home like the Declaration promised. However, the disappointment was insignificant next to the widespread support of the Declaration within the Zionist community.

In 1922, Britain was granted a mandate for control over Palestine by the League of Nations. The mandate, which included the Balfour Declaration, was well received by the Zionist community in the hopes that it would finally mean the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.

This hope soon turned to disappointment as in 1939, when Britain implemented the White Paper Policy, a plan by the British to grant Palestinian independence within the next 10 years. For the first five years, Jewish immigration would be limited to 15,000 per year, and the Jewish immigration for the next five years would be determined by the Palestinians. This outraged the Zionists, as the limitations on Jewish immigration all but ensured an Arabic majority in the new state.

However, the White Paper Policy was soon discontinued by the advent of World War II and the discovery of the Holocaust, which lead to renewed international support for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. This ultimately resulted in the creation of Israel in 1948.

Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/event/Balfour-Declaration
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zionism
The Second World War and its Consequences