Balfour-erklæringen er i virkeligheden et brev, der mod slutningen af første verdenskrig blev skrevet af Storbritanniens daværende udenrigsminister Athur James Balfour. Brevet blev sendt til lederen af de britiske jøder, Lord Rothschild, for at sikre deres støtte i krigen.
Foreign Office,
2nd November
1917,
Dear Lord Rothschild:
I have much pleasure in conveying to you on behalf of His Majesty's Government the following declaration of our sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet. "His Majesty's Government view 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."
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
Yours sincerely
Arthur James Balfour