This is the original letter sent by Lord Walter Rothschild to the journalist Israel Cohen, who was a leading British Zionist. In the letter Rothschild was responding to a request from Cohen for the original text of the Balfour Declaration. He explained that he had already deposited the document in the British Museum and therefore could not supply Cohen with the document. He enclosed a letter to the director of the British Museum which he hoped would enable Cohen to procure a copy. The Balfour Declaration is currently housed in the British Library.
This letter is fascinating for several reasons, not least the fact that a mere seven years after the Balfour Declaration, Rothschild had already demonstrated the foresight to deposit it in the British Museum and the museum directors had showed a similar awareness of its historical significance.
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Israel Cohen - Israel Cohen was a writer and journalist who had been deeply involved in the Zionist cause since first hearing a speech by Herzl and becoming a member of the Zionist movement in 1896. From 1909 until 1914, he was in charge of the Zionist Central Office in Cologne, and in 1918 he became the secretary for the World Zionist Organization in London. After World War I, Cohen undertook numerous Zionist diplomatic missions to Jewish communities in Europe, the Far East, and Australia. He later served as the general secretary of the Zionist organization in London and a member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. He wrote numerous books and articles.
