Why the British Initiated the Balfour Declaration?

The Balfour Declaration was issued 100 years ago on 2nd November 1917 by the British government. British documents prove without doubt that, notwithstanding the indispensable and crucial efforts of Zionist leaders like Chaim Weizmann, if there had been no Zionists in 1917, Britain would have tried to invent them. The declaration was primarily motivated by British Imperial and strategic interests. As Sir Humphrey explains to Bernard in ‘Yes, Prime Minister’, “people don’t want the facts – which just complicate things”.