In June 1917, the British Cabinet Secretary, noting that "In view of the apparent divergence of opinions expressed on the subject by Jews themselves", the Cabinet asked for feedback from a number of influential British Jews about the proposed text of the Balfour Declaration, which would allow for changes to be incorporated into the final version. These people included Chaim Weizmann, the chairmen of the Board of Deputies, the chief rabbi, and the politician and educational reformer Sir Philip Magnus.
This four-page letter was written by Sir Philip Magnus and can be seen as the passionate defence of an anti-Zionist ideologue. Magnus strongly believed that the place of the Jews was as loyal citizens of the countries in which they lived rather than aspiring to create their own country in Palestine. Magnus explained why he would change the wording of the proposed declaration in order to better express the idea that the Jews were no longer a nation:
For I agree with the late Chief Rabbi, Dr. Hermann Adler, that “ever since the conquest of Palestine by the Romans, we have ceased to be a body politic;” … and that we have no national aspirations apart from those of the country of our birth….I cannot agree that the Jews regard themselves as a Nation; and the term “National” as applied to a community of Jews in Palestine or elsewhere seems to me to beg the question between Zionists and their opponents.
Originally a Reform rabbi, Sir Philip Magnus was a member of parliament and a leading educational reformer, who also served as the vice-president of the Board of Deputies (the main representative body of British Jews). In his response, Magnus stressed that the Jewish people had ceased being a national body at the time of the Roman exile and used various historical examples, such as Jewish life in Spain, to show that Jews had ever since only shared a religion and had no national aspirations. He claimed that if Russian Jews had been well treated, they would not have been “agitating” for an independent state in Palestine. He concluded by suggesting that the following be written in the Declaration: “His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a centre of Jewish culture.”
Ultimately, his suggestion was not accepted; it would appear that the majority of the other respondents felt that the draft should contain the mention of a Jewish home.
