Three reasons why Israel has the right to exist in the Palestine region
1. The Land of Judea belongs to Israel
Archaeological evidence
Throughout history, Palestine has been known as the Land of Judea and the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The Kingdom of Israel, founded in the 11th century B.C., covered the north, while the later-established Kingdom of Judah controlled the south.
The ancient Kingdom of Israel emerged from the Canaanites in the early Iron Age (Iron Age I, 1200–1000 BC, Britannica). The following archeological evidence reveals the Palestine region belongs to Israel:
Ancient Biblical Cities
Beersheva City
Burial Plaque of King Uzziah
Code of Hammurabi and Old Testament Laws
Cylinder of Cyrus the Great
Dinosaurs in the Bible
Hezekiah’s Sluice Gate
Hezekiah’s Siloam Tunnel Inscription
Hittites people
Kurkh Monoliths
Noah’s Great Flood
Merneptah Stele
Mesha Stele or the Moabite Stone
Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet
Nuzi Tablets
Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
Sennacherib Prism
Spherical Earth
Shiloh Tabernacle
Tel Dan Stele
Emperor Hadrian renames Judea to Palestina
Emperor Hadrian renamed Judaea or Judea (Land of Israel) into Syria Palaestina or Palestina in 134 A.D. to wipe out the remaining Jewish identity in the Roman province. He chose Palestina to spite the Jews because the Philistines were the hereditary enemy of the Israelites.
The Jews never left their land
After the Jewish exile in 70 A.D., Jewish communities maintained an unbroken presence in their land. Jews from other countries preserved their culture, religious traditions, and connection to Jerusalem.
- Jews built communities in Jerusalem, Safed (Galilee), Hebron (Judean hills), and Tiberias even after the Ottoman conquest of Jerusalem in 1516. [Cambridge]
- British census in 1864 in Jerusalem showed 8,000 Jews, 4,000 Muslims, and 2,500 Christians, indicating a continuous dominance of the people of Israel since 1050 BCE. [Britanica ProCon]
- Preserved language: After the Jewish exile in 70 A.D., the scattered Jews could preserve the “dead Hebrew language.”
A portion of Israel’s once mighty kingdom
The Israel we know today is a small part of the Kingdom of Israel, established by King David. For centuries, they have been dispersed but held onto God’s promise to restore their land, which was fulfilled in 1948.
2. The U.N. Partition Plan of 1947
British Mandate and Partition Plan
“Mandatory Palestine” was a geopolitical entity under the British administration—carved out of Ottoman Southern Syria after World War I. Syria-Palestina (formerly the Land of Judaea) fell into the hands of the British Empire in 1917.
The U.N. Partition Plan of 1947 established a framework for the creation of a Jewish state and a Palestinian state because the British Mandate (by the British Empire) failed to fulfill its commitments to establish both a Jewish and Arab state as per the agreed plan.
Palestinians are modern terms
Muslims first invaded Jerusalem in 637 A.D. Arab remnants and Muslims from neighboring countries of Israel who moved to the area coexisted with Palestinian Jews and were called Palestinian Arabs.
“Modern Palestinians” has no connection with the Philistines, Amorites, Hittites, Amalekites, Jebusites, Hivites, and Perizzites who inhabited Canaan, which Israel conquered around the 12th and 11th centuries B.C.
Israel was a desolate place
In 1867. Mark Twain described the region of what is now Israel as harsh and barren landscapes, including the Dead Sea, as a desolate and unforgiving place. He also said:
“The Greeks and the Romans are gone, other people have sprung up handheld their torch high for a time, but it burned out…. the Jews saw them all, survived them all… all things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces passed, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?” (Mark Twain, 1898)
Unlike the Palestinian leaders who ruled Gaza, the Jews focused on nation-building through economic and technological development that enabled them to be a rich country with advanced weapon capabilities.
3. Israel is not the aggressor and has to defend itself
Six Day War
Just six days old, the newly formed state of Israel was attacked by Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. But even without an army or an air force, the Israeli army defeated its invaders.
List of attacks and retaliation since Israel’s inception:
- 1948: Arab-Israeli War (War of Independence) – 1948-1949
- 1956: Suez Crisis (Sinai War) – 1956
- 1967: Six-Day War – 1967
- 1973: Yom Kippur War (October War) – 1973
- 1982: Lebanon War – 1982
- 2006: Lebanon War (Second Lebanon War) – 2006
- Gaza Conflicts (Multiple, including 2008-2009, 2012, 2014, and others)
- 2023: Gaza-Israel conflict (Operation Al Aqsa Storm by the Hamas)
Winning and reclaiming its territory
Propagandists distort the fact that Israel is NOT the aggressor but a victim. A nation under attack has the right to defend itself. Victory in war yields spoils, enabling Israel to reclaim its territory—an opportunity to secure borders and defend its land.
With its robust economy, Israel is able to build advanced weaponry and self-defense.
Disarming Israel because it kept on winning
In 2022, the United Nations General Assembly affirmed that Israel must give up its nuclear weapons in a 149-6 vote. The Palestinian Authority and 20 countries put forward the resolution. [Jerusalem Post]
Israel continues to offer a compromise
Since 1978, Israel has been willing to compromise, even considering giving up ancestral land. However, the Arabs insist on one demand: Israel leaves the Middle East. [CC]
Over the last 70 years, Israel has faced continuous missile strikes and suicide bombings.
In 2005, Israel left the Gaza Strip as part of a unilateral disengagement plan led by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, seeking improved security and setting the stage for potential peace talks.
Failed peace talks Arabs have rejected:
Camp David Accords (1978)
Oslo Accords (1993)
Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty (1994)
Taba Summit (2001)
Gaza Disinegament plan (2005)
Annapolis Conference (2007)
Peace Offers (2000-2008)
Israel-Hamas War
On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas (a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization) led surprise attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, sea, and air. [CRS]
They kidnapped families, raped women, and killed babies. Israel retaliated with full force. It’s been almost 20 years that Hamas has been firing missiles and sending orchestrated suicide bombers to Israel. [HRW]
The IDF repeatedly told Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate, but Hamas encouraged its citizens to remain and “die for Allah.”
Israel has the right to exist
The bottom line is that the State of Israel was a legally, internationally sanctioned country, recognized as the homeland of the Jewish people, which has the right to exist. The false narrative today undermines the legitimacy of the State of Israel.
