French President Emmanuel Macron stands by the Western Wall, in Jerusalem’s Old City, Jan. 22, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ammar Awad.

In today’s political climate, no country faces more existential scrutiny than Israel. News outlets, social media commentators, and international organizations repeatedly question its legitimacy. But here’s the paradox: No one seems to ask whether Jordan has the right to exist, even though both Israel and Jordan were born from the same colonial mandate.

So why the double standard?

The uncomfortable answer is a toxic mix of modern antisemitism, historical revisionism, and global hypocrisy.

The British Mandate for Palestine, established after World War I, covered an area that included present-day Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories. The land had been part of the Ottoman Empire for centuries before the British took control.

Here’s the relevant history:

• In 1922, Britain arbitrarily cut off 78% of the Mandate to create Transjordan, today’s Jordan, installing the Hashemite monarchy.

• In 1946, Jordan gained full independence with minimal resistance or international drama.

• But when Israel declared independence in 1948, it was instantly attacked by five Arab nations and plunged into decades of conflict and global condemnation.

No one called Jordan’s birth a catastrophe. But Israel’s creation sparked endless accusations, wars, and a global campaign to undermine its legitimacy.

There are 22 Arab states, and approximately 50 Muslim-majority countries. There are countless Christian nations. No one disputes their right to exist based on religious or cultural identity.

But Israel? The only Jewish state in the world? That’s “controversial.”

The term “anti-Zionism” is often used to mask deep-rooted antisemitism. Critics say it’s not about Jews, just about Israel’s policies. Yet they don’t apply the same standard to countries with far worse records on democracy, human rights, or warfare.

• China occupies Tibet and jails Uyghur Muslims in camps. Silence.

• Turkey occupies northern Cyprus. Barely a peep.

• Pakistan was created on religious lines and has fueled decades of regional instability. No “right to exist” debate there.

Only Israel, a thriving democracy with equal rights for Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and more, is constantly forced to justify its existence.

Jordan and the Palestinians

Let’s get honest: The Palestinian narrative is heavily politicized.

• Jordan was carved out of historic “Palestine” and has a Palestinian-majority population.

• From 1948 to 1967, Jordan occupied the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem; no one called for a Palestinian state then.

• Jordan expelled thousands of Palestinians during Black September in 1970. No UN inquiries. No global protests.

So why does the world obsess only over Israel when it comes to Palestinians? The answer is not justice, it’s targeted bias.

The “Nakba” and Its Weaponization

Every war creates refugees. Millions of Europeans were displaced after World War II. Millions of Hindus and Muslims fled during the partition of India and Pakistan. Jewish communities were ethnically cleansed from Arab countries after 1948, and nearly 850,000 lost their homes.

Yet only one refugee narrative, the Nakba — the “catastrophe” of Israel’s creation — has been turned into a political bludgeon used to delegitimize a nation’s very existence.

The Nakba isn’t just about land, it’s about denying Jewish nationhood. It’s about saying Israel’s creation was not just a tragedy, but a crime.

For centuries, Jews were persecuted, expelled, and slaughtered, always the victims. The world grew used to powerless Jews.

But the birth of Israel changed that.

Israel represents Jewish survival, sovereignty, and strength. That offends many, especially those who are more comfortable seeing Jews as victims rather than as a powerful, independent people.

When Israel defends itself, it’s accused of aggression. When other nations do the same, it’s called self-defense. That’s not diplomacy, that’s prejudice.

Israel’s Right to Exist Is Not a Debate

Israel is not a colonial project. It is not a foreign implant. It is the re-establishment of Jewish independence in the Jewish people’s ancestral homeland, a land where Jewish identity, culture, and presence has remained continuously for over 3,000 years. There have always been Jews in this land.

The Jewish people have:

• A historical claim

• A legal claim (via the Balfour Declaration, League of Nations, and the UN)

• A moral claim, especially after surviving the Holocaust and centuries of exile.

Israel does not need permission to exist. Its right to life is self-evident.

Jordan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were all created in the 20th century under controversial, religiously influenced conditions. Yet none face daily challenges to their legitimacy.

Only Israel does.

That says less about Israel and more about the international community, a community that too often tolerates antisemitism disguised as activism.

It’s time to stop holding Israel to impossible standards. Time to stop treating Jewish self-determination as an offense. And time to demand fairness, not favoritism, in international diplomacy.

Because the question isn’t, “Does Israel have the right to exist?”

The real question is, “why do so many people still believe it doesn’t?”

Sabine Sterk is the CEO of Time To Stand Up For Israel.