The Making of the Balfour Declaration

Abstract

The appointment of Weizmann and Sokolow as liaisons with the British Government marked the beginning of official relations with Zionism in 1917. Whether Weizmann and his senior colleague Sokolow would succeed in securing a pro-Zionist policy depended upon their ability to continue the strategy of those who had preceded them, Kallen, Wolf, Suares, Jabotinsky and Gaster, as the dire developments in the war made the Government interest in Jewry ever more acute and a Palestine campaign made it possible. The success of this work relied upon an accurate understanding and manipulation of the Government’s perceptions of Jewish power and identity.