August 11 1840 – 12 Av 5600
British foreign secretary Lord Palmerston wrote to his ambassador in Constantinople, “There exists at present among the Jews dispersed over Europe a strong notion that the time is approaching when their Nation is to return to Palestine; … I have to instruct Your Excellency strongly to recommend [to the Turkish government] to hold out every just encouragement to the Jews of Europe to return to Palestine.”
Palmerston’s goal was to extend Western civilization to the Orient, but his letter is a rare testament to the Zionist sentiments sweeping Jewish communities in Europe decades before organized Zionism.