Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Governmentthe 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 faciliate 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
Lord Balfour sent the letter as a reward to [Chiam Weizmann]?, a Jewish chemist who managed to synthesize acetone via fermentation. Acetone is needed in the production of cordite?, a propellant needed to lob artillery shells. Germany had a corner on a key acetone ingredient, [calcium acetate]?. Without calcium acetate, Britain could not produce acetone and without acetone there would be no cordite. Without cordite, the Britain would have lost WW-I.
When asked what payment Weizmann would like, Weizmann responded, "There is only one thing I want. A national home for my people."
The Balfour letter set the stage for the creation of Israel 30 years later with Weizmann as its first president.
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