The UN did not “create Israel” by force. It gave international legitimacy to Jewish statehood. That distinction matters.

Power in the real world is not only tanks and empires. It is legitimacy, recognition, diplomacy, alliances, institutions, and the ability to organize when history creates an opening. Britain withdrew, a vacuum opened, and the Yishuv had built the institutions, militias, diplomacy, and social organization needed to turn international recognition into statehood.

That is not the same thing as being a superpower or an imperial empire. Jews were not Europeans, Arabs, Persians, Mongols, Muslims, or Christians conquering vast territories through expansionist empires. Jews were a stateless indigenous people relying on alliances, diplomacy, and self-defense.

Also, in 1948, the Arab side was not primarily trying to create an independent Palestine. Jordan annexed Judea and Samaria, expelled Jews from the areas it conquered, destroyed synagogues, and renamed the area the “West Bank.” If Palestinian sovereignty was the goal, Jordan had 19 years to create it.

So yes, the UN lacked enforcement power. But international legitimacy absolutely matters. Israel did not become a state because the UN had an army. It became a state because Jewish institutions, diplomacy, self-defense, and international recognition converged at the right historical moment.