For over a century, the Palestinian Territories were part of the Ottoman Empire. However, during World War I, as the empire weakened and eventually transitioned into the Republic of Turkey, Britain took control of the territories.
In 1917, the British Foreign Secretary expressed wholehearted support for the establishment of a Jewish state in the Palestinian Territories in a letter to Lionel Rothschild. This pledge is often referred to as “A promise from someone who does not possess to someone who does not deserve.”
At the outset of this significant promise being put into action, the Jewish population in Palestine was 7%. This percentage rose to 28% of the total population after the immigration of European Jews to Palestine under British protection.
