Ridiculous wasn't it. Cosying up to Zionists, less than 10% of the indigenous population was Jewish.
I suppose they were opposing the Ottoman at the time.
What a disaster that Balfour caused.
Yes, and no. The reasoning behind the creation of the state may have, to some extent, been due to 'cosying with Zionists', but it's only one part of it.
One of the main causes for the creation of Israel was the UN's acceptance that a number of historical and religious arguments justified an Israeli state.
After long-standing persecution, that eventually reached its peak with the Holocaust, Jews feeling unwelcome and unsafe in many states fled to Palestine.
Several of the Jewish people I know explain how for many 'being a Jew' comes before any form of national sentiment, which has meant they never feel 'a part'.
I'm explaining this incredibly briefly (it deserves a far deeper explanation), but the instilled belief in their 'holy land' additionally played a part in the rational.
At first, we (Britain) tried unsuccessfully to swell the numbers, so ultimately with the UN decided to create two equally sized territories for Arabs and Jews.
But this never fully happened because of the outcome of the first Israeli-Arab war, so in hindsight the failings are more to do with the implementation than the intent.
