The Balfour declaration was issued in 1917, towards the end of the First World War. Britain was fighting the Ottoman Empire at the time, in order to gain control of the Middle East and defeat its enemies. The Jews had helped Britain in the conquest of Israel in order to gain independence from the Turks. The Jews of Israel played a vital role in the battle, both militarily and through acts of espionage and sabotage. There was even a Jewish brigade in Israel that was formed within the British army. The Balfour declaration was the least Britain could do to thank the Jews.

The Balfour declaration was not even a treaty or a promise; perhaps it was a declaration to some extent, but in all practicality it was merely a formal letter of approval. Meaning, Britain approved independence for the Jews, but it was not going to go out of its way for the sake of Israel. On top of that, Israel was not exactly prime real estate at the time. It was a backwater province for the Ottomans; one that was neglected, impoverished, and desolate. The settlements that existed struggled to survive, and they struggled through many hardships: the heavy Turkish taxes and bribes; the lawlessness that prevailed in the Land, which took its toll at the hands of bands of thieves and murderers; malaria and other diseases; hunger and desolation. Israel was basically a wasteland that had only begun to blossom in the few places that had been resettled. It was an undesirable Land, and a very hard life.

The Arabs didn't want Israel, nor did the British really care about it. Israel was only valuable to the British, and everyone else, so long as the Jews were there to work the Land and revive its soil. As long as Britain profited it was in a good position, and the profits did not come from Israel. Britain was more interested in the resources of the Arab lands--primarily the oil. Therefore Israel was only a side issue to Britain, and since the Arabs didn't seem to care, Britain didn't see any reason not to give Israel to the Jews...

In 1917, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration:

His Majesty's Government views with favor 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, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

According to the Peel Commission, appointed by the British Government to investigate the cause of the 1936 Arab riots, "the field in which the Jewish National Home was to be established was understood, at the time of the Balfour Declaration, to be the whole of historic Israel, including Transjordan."

The Mandate for Israel's purpose was to put into effect the Balfour Declaration. It specifically referred to "the historical connections of the Jewish people with Palestine" and to the moral validity of "reconstituting their National Home in that country." The term "reconstituting" shows recognition of the fact that Israel had been the Jews' home. Furthermore, the British were instructed to "use their best endeavors to facilitate" Jewish immigration, to encourage settlement on the Land and to "secure" the Jewish National Home. The word "Arab" does not appear in the Mandatory award.

The Mandate was formalized by the 52 governments at the League of Nations on July 24, 1922.

Emir Faisal, son of Sherif Hussein, the leader of the Arab revolt against the Turks, signed an agreement with Chaim Weizmann and other Zionist leaders during the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. “Mindful of the racial kinship and ancient bonds existing between the Arabs and the Jewish people,” it said, “and realizing that the surest means of working out the consummation of their national aspirations is through the closest possible collaboration in the development of the Arab states and Palestine [meaning Israel]." Furthermore, the agreement looked to the fulfillment of the Balfour Declaration and called for all necessary measures "...to encourage and stimulate immigration of Jews into Israel on a large scale, and as quickly as possible to settle Jewish immigrants upon the Land through closer settlement and intensive cultivation of the soil."

Faisal had conditioned his acceptance of the Balfour Declaration on the fulfillment of British wartime promises of independence to the Arabs. These were not kept.

Critics dismiss the Weizmann-Faisal agreement because it was never enacted; however, the fact that the leader of the Arab nationalist movement and the Zionist movement could reach an understanding is significant because it demonstrated that Jewish and Arab aspirations were not necessarily mutually exclusive. [Both the Jews and the Arabs wanted to gain independence from the Ottoman Empire, and then from Britain and other colonialists.]

[Sources: Chaim Weizmann, Trial and Error, (NY: Schocken Books, 1966), pp. 246-247; Howard Sachar, A History Of Israel, (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979), p. 121.]