POLITICIANS MARK
THIS evening in London, UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu will join 150 guests at a celebratory dinner.
The private gathering commemorates a public declaration on November 2, 1917, by a Scot – Arthur James Balfour – whose words have helped shape a century of Middle East history.
Arthur Balfour was born in 1848 at Whittingehame House, East Lothian.
For him, politics was a family affair. The son and grandson of Scottish MPs, he entered parliament in 1874 and moved up the ranks, becoming secretary of state for Scotland in a government led by his uncle, Conservative Party leader Lord Salisbury.
In 1902, Balfour succeeded his uncle to become prime minister, but it is his subsequent time as foreign secretary in But on centenary of British government pledge, the solution to Israel’s problems is still far from clear the government led by David Lloyd George that will be remembered today.
For as foreign secretary a century ago, Balfour wrote these words: “His Majesty’s government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”
The origins of this historic statement pledging the government to use their “best endeavours” lay not only in British support for Zionism but in wartime calculations and imperial interests.
The Balfour Declaration, as it has come to be known, extended to just 67 words – but their meaning and effect continue to be contested a century later.
Today in Jerusalem, in a sad metaphor for this continuing conflict, completely separate Palestinian and Israeli Balfour conferences are being held on opposite