The British are indeed responsible. Anti-semites like Balfour and Churchill were sold a way of ridding Britain of its Jews when the Belorussian Weizmann sold them an antisemitic story about ‘international Jewish power’ being able to bring the US into WWI if the Government supported Zionism. Of course, imperial ambitions also played a role. Where Britain made its biggest mistake was thinking that the Zionists were rational actors. Britain rejected the idea of a Jewish state being created in Palestine (hence the formulation ‘Jewish National Home’ instead of ‘state’ or ‘homeland’) and accepted assurances from the Zionists that they had no such intentions. It is very interesting to read the government correspondence after Balfour, as the government realized that the Zionists were saying one thing to them and another to themselves. See especially the ‘Disturbances in May, 1921’ report to see the exasperation of British officials at the Zionists claiming that Balfour promised them a state.
They tried reasoning with the Zionist fanatics. They made the mistake of trying to find compromises with the Zionist fanatics. The Zionist strategy was to never take yes for an answer and always press for more. Thus the disastrous Peel Commission proposal, so hastily withdrawn. It was the only time the British accepted the idea of a Jewish state, and they quickly saw reason. This is what led to the Zionist waves of terrorism that followed. This is what led LEHI to seek an alliance with the Reich against Britain during WWII and especially led to the Zionist war of terror launched in late 1945 and lasting until the UNGA recommendation of partition.
