London, November 3rd, 2016 – European Coalition for Israel has called upon the British Government to renew its commitment to stand with the Jewish people and the State of Israel, on the eve of the 99th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, which promised British support for a national home for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland of Israel. The event, which was hosted by Lord Polak, took place only a few days after a tumultuous anti-Israeli rally in the House of Lords had demanded that Britain offer an official apology for the Balfour Declaration.

In his keynote address, renowned international legal scholar Dr Jacques P. Gauthier (picture) explained how those who want Britain to apologise for the Balfour Declaration are barking up the wrong tree.

“It was the adoption of the Balfour Declaration by the Principal Allied ‎Powers on April 25, 1920 during the San Remo Conference which resulted in the granting of rights under international law to the Jewish People. These rights were then incorporated into the terms of the Mandate for Palestine which was approved by the Council of the League of Nations on July 24, 1922,” he explained.

“This courageous and noble act of the British Government, which was fully supported by the United States, France and Italy, greatly invigorated‎ the Zionist movement to establish a Jewish National home in Palestine,” he said.

”The current campaign to delegitimise Israel is based on the false historical assumption that Jews are trespassers in Israel and do not belong in the region. The San Remo declaration, which incorporated the Balfour Declaration in international law, states the opposite as it affirms the historical, cultural and spiritual connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel which spans more than 3000 years,” he concluded.

In his closing remarks ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell noted that ”the fierce opposition to the Balfour Declaration of 1917 reveals the true nature behind the anti-Balfour campaign, namely to deny the Jewish people their right to self determination and statehood, which was granted by the Principal Allied‎ Powers in 1920 and confirmed both by the League of Nations in 1922 and the United Nations in its Charter of 1945.”