WZO London Bureau

The World Zionist Organization (WZO) was established in 1897 during the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. The main goal of the WZO was to promote Jewish immigration to Palestine and to support the building of a Jewish state. London became the key locus of political Zionist activism during and immediately after World War I. Chaim Weizmann, who received British citizenship in 1910, repeatedly met with British politicians, primarily Arthur Balfour and prime minister David Lloyd George, and discussed with them a Jewish state in Palestine. Weizmann’s and Naḥum Sokolow’s activity in London precipitated the 1917 Balfour Declaration, a significant victory for the Zionist movement. Another prominent member of the London Bureau, which was located at 175 Piccadilly Street, was Yeḥiel Chlenov (Tschlenow, 1863–1918), who also took part in the negotiations in 1917. The London Bureau published proclamations and program texts such as the 1918 “The Zionist Commission in Palestine: Aims and Objects Explained.”