British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s declaration recognizing a Palestinian state was, in his words, intended to preserve the two-state solution and promote peace in the Middle East.
Among Palestinians, however, the move was perceived not only as a diplomatic victory but also as fertile ground for reviving old demands. Just days later, calls emerged to put Britain on trial for “historic crimes” committed during the Mandate period and to demand astronomical reparations amounting to trillions of pounds.
Britain has joined a group of Western nations – including Canada, Spain, and Australia – that support the idea of a Palestinian state against the backdrop of the war in Gaza and increased focus on settlements in Judea and Samaria. The Starmer government insists this is not a step against Israel but a pragmatic move to preserve what it calls the only viable political option: a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel.
In practice, however, Britain’s recognition carries far-reaching consequences. It grants legitimacy to the Palestinian narrative despite its historical inconsistencies and could serve as a legal and diplomatic lever for new claims against Britain by a “state” built on a flimsy historical fiction.
The lawsuits that could follow from Palestinian statehood recognition
In parallel with the announcement, Palestinian initiatives resurfaced demanding that Britain take responsibility for the “wrongs of the Mandate” (1920-1948). The Palestinian Authority’s prime minister has called for a formal apology and massive financial compensation. The claims range from “land theft” and human rights violations to accusations that Britain laid an illegal foundation for the establishment of the State of Israel.
The historical facts, however, are clear: Britain, along with most of the international community, recognized the Jewish people’s historic right to a national home in the Land of Israel. From a legal standpoint, the Palestinian claims have little chance of success due to state immunity, statutes of limitation, and – above all – the near impossibility of proving ownership a century later.
The concept of a Palestinian people is a modern political construct that emerged in the mid-20th century as part of the struggle against Zionism. For thousands of years, no Palestinian political entity existed in this land. After falling out of Jewish hands, it was ruled successively by Romans, Byzantines, Muslims, Crusaders, Ottomans, and the British, but never by Palestinians. During the British Mandate, all residents of the land, both Jews and Arabs, were referred to as “Palestinians.”
Only after the establishment of the State of Israel – and even more so after the Six Day War – was an artificial national narrative built to present a people supposedly uprooted from its land. In reality, many of the Arabs living here in the 19th and 20th centuries had migrated from Egypt, Syria, and the Arabian Peninsula.
Paradoxically, the Western world embraced this false narrative almost without question. Universities, international media outlets, and governments began referring to an “ancient Palestinian people,” when in fact this identity was invented for political struggle.
The oft-heard slogan at demonstrations in London, Amsterdam, and New York, “From the river to the sea,” is not a call for peace but an explicit call for the destruction of the Jewish state.
British recognition of a Palestinian state, while ignoring these facts, legitimizes a falsehood rather than confronting it. It is no surprise that Palestinian Authority officials hailed the move as a “historic step,” viewing it as a springboard for compensation demands. Even if such lawsuits have virtually no legal chance, the very act of raising them reinforces a victimhood narrative and strengthens claims to a national identity that never historically existed.
Even if they never receive a single pound, the Palestinians gain by perpetuating this falsehood in the global consciousness, while Israel is forced to defend itself against a historical fabrication.
Jerusalem must respond through strategic public diplomacy: exposing the falsehoods of the Palestinian narrative, emphasizing that such a people never existed, and warning that recognition of a Palestinian state is a reward for deceit and terror.
Britain’s declaration is not an isolated act but another link in a chain of Western adoption of historical falsehoods, accompanied by fantastical demands. It is becoming clear that the struggle is not only over “statehood” but also over money – and lots of it.
The historical truth is singular: There has only ever been one people with an ancient sovereign bond to this land – the Jewish people.
The writer is CEO of Radios 100FM, an honorary consul and deputy dean of the Consular Diplomatic Corps, president of the Israel Radio Communication Association, and a former IDF Radio monitor and NBC correspondent.