867N.01/1763: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 7—1:45 p.m.]
3473. Department’s 2982, August 5, 10 p.m. In the House of Commons July 30 in reply to the question of whether the British Government still adheres to the policy of the Balfour declaration of 1917,25 the Prime Minister replied “There has been no change in the policy of His Majesty’s Government in regard to Palestine”. To the further question “if full account will be taken of that answer in any discussions which may take place”, he replied, “Yes, sir, certainly.”
It will be noted that the reply did not refer to any specific discussions. The Foreign Office states that it has no information concerning alleged discussions in Cairo between Arab leaders and does not believe the news agency report. It understands that Moshe Shertok visited Cairo recently but has received no reports of his activities there.
It adds that the views of Dr. Weizmann and Dr. Magnes are stated correctly in the Department’s telegram.
- Declaration contained in a letter of November 2, 1917, from the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Balfour, to Lord Rothschild. See Foreign Relations, 1917, supp. 2, vol. i, p. 317, footnote 1.↩