2,000 Years Too Late: Palestinian Authority Recruits Hasmoneans and Herod as Palestinians
A section of Jerusalem’s 2,000-year-old Lower Aqueduct, dating to the Hasmonean period, uncovered during archaeological excavations near Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, October 2026. Photo: Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority. The Hasmoneans built winter palaces. Herod expanded them.…
Assessment
The Palestinian Authority is claiming Hasmonean and Herodian archaeological sites as Palestinian heritage, a move that rewrites 2,000 years of Jewish history in the region. This is not an academic dispute but a political weapon: if the PA can get international bodies to recognize these sites as Palestinian, it strengthens their territorial and historical claims against Israel. Watch for UNESCO or other cultural agencies to be drawn into this fight, as the PA has a track record of using heritage politics to advance statehood narratives.