Netanyahus catch up on reading at British Library while in London
On his official trip to the UK, the prime minister and his wife were shown the official Balfour Declaration, as well as book compiled by his late father.
By JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 13:09Sara and Benjamin Netanyahu view th Balfour Declaration at the British Library (photo credit: GPO)
On his official visit to the UK this week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara visited the British Library on Thursday where they were shown the original Balfour Declaration of 1917, the crucial British government document that gave recognition of Jewish national aspirations. The declaration, issued by the British government on November 2, 1917, expressed England’s intention to establish a Jewish national home in a Palestine newly conquered from the Ottoman Empire.The Netanyahus were also shown a book from 1937, a collection of writings by Theodor Herzl, edited by the prime minister's late father, the historian Benzion Netanyahu. The two also looked at an antique Haggada, a Bible and a Talmud. On Wednesday Netanyahu, in a speech to some 120 MPs and members of the House of Lords from parties across the political spectrum, said the solution to Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians was “a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes a Jewish state, the nation state of the Jewish people.”Herb Keinon contributed to this report.