Balfour Declaration at the British Ambassador's Residence

TEL AVIV - The Israel and British Commonwealth Association (IBCA) was hosted by H.E. Neil Wigan, the BritishAmbassador to Israel, at his residence and launched the inauguration of events to commemorate the 104th Balfour Declaration of 1917, which committed the then British Government to creating ahomeland for the Jewish people in "Palestine".

Samuels with Neil Wigan, British Ambassador to Israel

IBCA chair, Brenda Katten, expressed the Association's deep appreciation to the Ambassador for his generous hospitality andintroduced the guest speaker Ambassador Daniel Taub - former Israel's Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, who attended the event, reflected on the significance ofNovember in the Jewish calendar:

- 2 November 1917: the Balfour Declaration

- 9 November 1938: Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, "the Prelude to the Holocaust"

- 29 November 1947: UN Partition Plan: Jews accepted, Arabs went to war

The Wiesenthal Centre has been monitoring a Palestinian threatened lawsuit against the United Kingdom for so-called “damagesgenerated by the Balfour Declaration.” Their demand is an expression by London for “recognition and accountability.” The British Government has dismissed the claim, though itpersists as an issue on social media.

For further information contact Dr. Shimon Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com, join the Center on Facebook,or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agenciesincluding the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).