Page "Balfour Declaration" Paragraph 20

One of the main proponents of a Jewish homeland in Palestine was Chaim Weizmann, the leading spokesperson for organized Zionism in Britain.

Weizmann was a chemist who had developed a process to synthesize acetone via fermentation.

Acetone is required for the production of cordite, a powerful propellant explosive needed to fire ammunition without generating tell-tale smoke.

Germany had cornered supplies of calcium acetate, a major source of acetone.

Other pre-war processes in Britain were inadequate to meet the increased demand in World War I, and a shortage of cordite would have severely hampered Britain's war effort.

Lloyd-George, then minister for munitions, was grateful to Weizmann and so supported his Zionist aspirations.

In his War Memoirs, Lloyd-George wrote of meeting Weizmann in 1916 that Weizmann: