On November 2, 1917, Arthur James Balfour released a statement on behalf of the British cabinet calling for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. The statement would help shape a century of conflict in the region, signaling the British Empire’s support for the Zionist project.

Political Zionism’s ultimate objective, as laid out by founder Theodor Herzl in his famous 1896 booklet, Der Judenstaat, and in his private writings, was as far-reaching as it was crystal clear: a Jewish state, meaning Jewish sovereignty and Jewish control over immigration into Palestine. The Zionist movement began as a colonial enterprise in search of a metropolitan sponsor. Having failed to win over Germany or the Ottoman Empire, its leaders succeeded with Britain’s wartime cabinet. Thereafter, they enjoyed the support of the greatest power of the age, one that would soon emerge victorious from the Great War.

Indeed, Zionists could credit two decades of unstinting British support and the later League of Nations mandate based on Balfour’s statement for their eventual victory in Palestine. They could also thank their own prodigious efforts and their extraordinary, relentless drive, which Herzl’s famous dictum perfectly summarized: “If you will it, it is not a fairy-tale.”