The Balfour Declaration (full text)

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The Balfour Declaration · 2 November 1917 · issued by Arthur James Balfour, Foreign Secretary, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government

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November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following
declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved
by, the Cabinet.

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the
Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours 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."

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely,

Arthur James Balfour

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Provenance

Document	The Balfour Declaration
Date	2 November 1917
Issued by	Arthur James Balfour, Foreign Secretary, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government
Transcribed from	The Avalon Project, Yale Law School
Retrieved	2026-07-29
Length	128 words
SHA-256 of this text	419bce771ddc3ff029babdcf0fb105790b473237952a54ae73aaf188b3d9c968

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The Balfour Declaration, 2 November 1917. Transcribed from The Avalon Project, Yale Law School. Shoresh, https://wiki.ilroot.com/texts/balfour-declaration-1917/ (SHA-256 419bce771ddc3ff0).