fbpx

Analysis

BICOM Analysis: Balfour’s legacy – Britain and Israel today

[ssba]

Ninety years ago, on 2 November 1917, then-British foreign secretary Sir Arthur Balfour issued a statement on behalf of the British government committing the UK to the ‘establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.’[1] This statement represented a watershed moment in the fortunes of the endeavour to re-create Jewish sovereignty in the ancient Jewish homeland.  The Balfour Declaration in essence offered the support of the leading power of the day to Jewish aspirations.  The reasons behind the issuing of the declaration are complex.  Britain, mired in the trenches of World War I at the time, hoped that the Jews of Russia and the US would support their own countries’ involvement in the war as a result of the declaration.  Famously, the declaration also took place at a time when Britain was cultivating the national aspirations of the Arabs, as part of the war effort against the crumbling Ottoman Empire. 

The declaration also makes clear that in the creation of the Jewish national home ‘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.’  The declaration thus places the British position squarely in line with that of mainstream Zionism – then and now – which wishes to create and preserve Jewish sovereignty, while also supporting the realisation of the national rights of Israel’s neighbours, including the Palestinians.

The declaration was a key moment in making possible the establishment of Israel.  In practical terms, above all, it provided a period, from 1917-29, when the Zionist movement was able to build the Jewish population in then-British Mandate Palestine from 55,000 to just over 162,000, enabling persecuted Jews to find refuge, and turning Jewish sovereignty from a vision into a practical possibility.[2]

Britain’s subsequent relations with Jewish nationalism and with Israel have been complex, not without moments of deep division and divergence.  But in the last years, the connection at senior government level has gone from strength to strength. The relationship is characterised by strong economic ties and by a common desire for a just and peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict between Israel and its neighbours. Recent polling of the British public also shows that, of those who express a preference, a 3-1 majority are in favour of the principles of the Balfour Declaration and would like the UK government to do everything in its power to make these principles a reality. This paper will take a closer look at these areas.

Britain‘s economic relationship with Israel

Since the ending of the Cold War, and the beginnings of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in the early 1990s, the British commercial relationship with Israel has increased exponentially.  In 1995, then-prime minister John Major led a large business delegation to Israel, taking the opportunity at the time to announce that Britain would no longer be constrained by the Arab boycott.  Bilateral trade between the two countries reached a volume of £2.5 billion in 2000 – this figure represented a 22% increase in a single year, when judged against the figures for 1999, and it ushered in a period, which continues until the present, in which Israel is the biggest trading partner for Britain in the Middle East.[3] Bilateral trade figures have topped £2 billion in each of the subsequent years[4], and this year are projected to reach £2.4 billion. It is possible that the figure of £3 billion per annum may be achieved by 2010. Israel is also the number one export market for British goods in the Middle East. In 2000, Britain and Israel established the Britech Fund, which invests some £15 million annually to encourage cooperation in research and development projects.  Britain is also host to over 200 Israeli companies operating in the UK.[5] Overall, Britain’s economic ties with Israel contributed over £1.7 billion to UK GDP in 2006. The UK is a net exporter of goods and services to Israel, and overall, on a per capita basis, Israel is the 26th largest trading partner for Britain worldwide, placing it ahead of the US, Japanese and South African per capita figures.   

Britain’s burgeoning commercial relations with Israel are matched by an extensive British relationship with the Palestinian Authority, which dates back to the PA’s earliest days.  In 1998, Britain announced a $100 million aid package to the PA and UNRWA. The UK’s Department for International Development continues to administer an annual programme of assistance of £30 million to the PA.[6]

The UK and the peace process

British foreign policy as a whole is characterised by the UK’s desire to balance its unique relationship with the US with Britain’s status as a major European power.  This pattern is also reflected in the British approach to the diplomatic process in the Middle East. Rather than trying to form an alternative mediating channel to Washington for the process, as some European countries have sought to do, the UK has endeavoured to set in motion complementary processes to the main, US-mediated contacts, in order to facilitate both improved relations between Israelis and Palestinians, and improved conditions in the PA areas.[7] Britain’s historical attachment to the region naturally lends itself to ongoing constructive involvement now.

Thus, the UK was instrumental in the creation of the ‘Temporary International Mechanism’ which enabled foreign aid to continue to reach needy Palestinians, while maintaining the international boycott of the then Hamas-led PA government.  Earlier, then-prime minister Tony Blair promoted the creation of an industrial park, airport and seaport in Gaza.  Britain sponsored an international conference on Palestinian reform in March 2005, and Britain has been and remains instrumental in the crucial reform and training of the Palestinian police and security services. 

Under Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the pragmatic desire to strengthen ambitions for peace through practical work on the ground has continued.  The recent report ‘Economic aspects of peace in the Middle East’, authored by Rt Hon Ed Balls MP and Jon Cunliffe CB, reflects this, seeking as it does to offer partial steps for economic improvement in the PA areas, in the belief that this will help strengthen moderates by providing people with a ‘a material stake in their own future.’[8] The lessons of the Northern Ireland peace process are significant here – although the parallels should not be overstated.

There has of course been another, less harmonious element to the British relationship with Israel in recent years.  Elements within British civil society have been particularly visible in the campaign to delegitimise Israel. The various abortive attempts in trade unions to institute a discriminatory boycott against Israel have been only the most visible aspect of this. The ‘commanding heights’ of the debate in British public life remain solidly committed to Britain’s close relations with Israel, and to a just, two-state solution to the conflict.  But there are elements – in academia, the church, the media and other areas – busily and noisily trying to chip away at this consensus. 

Conclusion

The Balfour Declaration represented in its day the cementing of an alliance between Britain and the national aspirations of the Jewish people. Today, it may be looked back on from the vantage point of a secure and flourishing Israel, whose friendship and partnership with Britain is one of the central lynchpins of its foreign relations.


[1] The Balfour Declaration, November 2, 1917. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/The%20Balfour%20Declaration

[2] Howard Sachar, A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to our Time (New York: Knopf, 1979: 138-162)

[3] Jonathan Rynhold and Jonathan Spyer, “British policy in the Arab-Israeli arena, 1973- 2004,” British Journal of Middle East Studies, August, 2007, 34 (2): 137-155. 

[4] British-Israel Relations, British Embassy in Tel Aviv website.  http://www.britemb.org.il/ukisrael/bilateral.htm

[5] Ibid. 

[6] Country profiles: The Occupied Palestinian Territories.  http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365&a=KCountryProfile&aid=1038488927273

[7] Rynhold, Spyer.

[8] Jonny Paul, “UK publishes report on Palestinian economy,” Jerusalem Post, 20 September 2007. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1189411447765