ABSTRACT
The conquest of Palestine in the military field, the Balfour Declaration and the Mandate for Palestine in the political one, mark for them the first appearance since the Middle Ages of Palestine in British history. British interest in Palestine in its relation to the Jews goes back long before the issue of the Balfour Declaration and the First World War. Lord Shaftesbury was a sincere advocate of the resettlement of the Jews in Palestine almost from the beginning of his public career. By the 1840s the subject of Palestine and its relationship to the Jews became one of great activity among the interested circles in Britain. Many believe that Palestine came into the orbit of British foreign affairs only when in the course of the First World War that country was invaded by British forces under Lord Allenby and remained under British administration for another thirty years.
