The
Balfour Declaration was the
British promise to make the
Ottoman Palestine a national homeland for
Jews.
The British position was somewhat hypocritical. Since the Ottoman Empire sided with the Central Powers in World War I, the British not only fought the Ottomans, but also encouraged revolt among the Ottomans’ Arab vassals. The result was that the conflicting national aspirations (between Arabs and Jews) were unleashed, and the conflict still torments the Middle East today.
Thus, the "friendly" resolution offered by the British only partially recognizes that the British had a hand in creating the ethnic crisis to begin with.