Britain’s failure to gain legal standing for the Balfour Declaration

Abstract

The document that Britain composed for its governance of Palestine (Mandate for Palestine) called for implementation of the Jewish national home mentioned in the Balfour Declaration. However, Britain’s governance of Palestine, purportedly under the mandate scheme of the League of Nations, never gained a lawful foundation. The League of Nations had no power under the League Covenant to attribute legal significance to the Mandate for Palestine, or to give Britain a right to govern. Britain failed to gain sovereignty, which was a prerequisite for governing Palestine or for holding a mandate. Britain gave varying explanations at different times in an effort to show that it did hold sovereignty. The United Nations did not question Britain’s legal standing in Palestine but accepted the legitimacy of the Mandate for Palestine as a basis for dividing the country. The issue of territorial rights in historic Palestine remains unresolved to the present time.

Keywords

• belligerent occupant
• mandate
• sovereignty
• League of Nations
• Balfour Declaration
• Treaty of Lausanne