BALFOUR FOREST, ISRAEL

Balfour Forest, courtesy KKL-JNF, photo: Dennis Zin

In Biblical times, the area that is now the Balfour Forest in the hills west of Nazareth, as with the rest of the Land of Israel, was a well-wooded and well-farmed region and located in the tribal territory of Zvulun. After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 and the consequent occupation and invasions of foreign empires – Arabs, Crusaders, Mameluke Egyptians, and Ottoman Turks, etc., and their havoc on the land, Israel gradually became denuded of any forestry whatsoever with the exception of a few small areas scattered throughout the country. It wasn’t until c. 1870 that Jews started to re-plant trees, further south at Mikve Yisrael outside of Jaffa. Around the same time, the Sursock family, a Greek Christian family resident in Beirut, purchased from the Ottoman government, large swathes of the Jezreel Valley, including the Nazereth hills which was sparsely covered with steppes and shrubberies at the time.

With the founding of the Jewish National Fund in 1901, tree planting and land reclamation became more organized and on a national scale. In 1921, after lengthy negotiations, the Sursock landholdings were legally transferred to the JNF and Kibbutz Ginegar was founded the following year west of Nazareth and at the southern foothills. It was the wish of the JNF as well as of the Jewish leadership that this area be made to look like what it was originally in Biblical times and the idea for the Balfour Forest was born, named after Arthur Balfour, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at the end of World War I, who was sympathetic to Jewish national aspirations in the Jewish ancestral homeland.

This was to be the JNF’s first major forestry project, requiring a large amount of capital. So fund-raising began almost immediately spearheaded by the Balfour Forest Committee based in London and headed by Major George Nathan, assisted by the Marquess of Reading. The funds were then transferred to the JNF and, in 1928, on the barren hilltop north of Ginegar, the planting of the forest commenced attended by Jewish and British officials including Menachem Ussishkin, chairman of the JNF, Sir Alfred Mond, accompanied by Lady Mond, who planted the first saplings, Chaim Weizmann, president of the World Zionist Organization, David ben Gurion, head of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, High Commissioner Lord Plumer and Lady Plumer, Harry Sacher of the Palestine Zionist Executive, David Yellin, chairman of the Vaad Leumi (the National Council of Palestine), M. Bernard Baron, and Lady Erleigh. After the ceremonial first planting, labor groups from Ginegar were recruited for the project assisted by labor activists from California. All were in agreement that the forest would be economically beneficial to both Jew and Arab alike. When the forest was inaugurated later that year, it was a festive occasion with speeches which were broadcast to England. Well wishes came in from London including from Balfour himself, Sir Herbert Samuel, the previous High Commissioner of Palestine, the Earl of Reading, former Viceroy of India, and former Prime Minister David Lloyd-George. Chaim Solomon, member of the Jerusalem Municipal Council, then presented the forest in the name of British Jewry to the Jubilee Committee as a “symbol of loyalty to the throne and a token of gratitude for the freedom the Jews have enjoyed in Britain during the King’s reign.” The inauguration ceremony ended with the singing of Hatikvah.

In 1933, a major forest fire occurred. Firefighters from Ginegar, and nearby Nahalal and Afula helped to put out the fire. Its cause was uncertain, but during the Arab intifada of 1936-1939, one of many that would periodically erupt since even before the advent of Zionism, Arab arsonists would torch the forest several times causing extensive damage. In one incident in 1939, an arson attempt was thwarted due to the timely intervention by the Police Inspector of Tiberias.

After the intifada had run its course and the onset on World War II, the forest was well guarded and it quickly recovered – so much so that it became a location of frequent recreational and cultural activities. In 1942, a Biblically theme theatrical performance took place at a natural theater setting in the middle of the forest.

In the 1950s, additional trees were planted by refugees from Europe and North Africa. In 1985, a large grove of trees was planted in memory of William MacRae, a prominent member of the Scottish National Party (Balfour was a fellow Scot) and long-time friend of Israel. He was also Professor Emeritus at the University of Haifa.

Today, the forest is surrounded by villages and towns including Migdal HaEmek on the north and west, Yefe an-Nasariyye on the north, Ginegar on the south, and Nazareth on the east. Part of a popular recreational bike path beginning at Migdal haEmek traverses the forest, and weekly visits are arranged by the Haifa Jewish Hospitality Committee.