Lady Sainsbury, Chairman of the AIA Council hosted a special lunch for AIA Patrons and long term supporters at Leighton House to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.

There were several speeches during the lunch including: Sir Andrew Burns KCMG, a former British Ambassador to the State of Israel, who welcomed everyone and gave a broad outline of the events leading up to the Balfour Declaration and the UK Government’s position at that time, and Ms Sharon Bar-Li, Deputy Israeli Ambassador, gave an optimistic view of Israel’s future relations with the Arab world.

Leighton House proved a lovely venue. The house was the former home and studio of the leading Victorian artist, Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896) and a sub-site is dedicated to Leighton’s travels in the Middle East.