Encyclopaedia Britannica has amended its Britannica Kids website following a complaint from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) about its erasure of Israel in maps and teaching content.
In January 2026, UKLFI wrote to Encyclopaedia Britannica identifying multiple examples across Britannica Kids entries where the term “Palestine” was used to describe the region across thousands of years, including in modern contexts in which the State of Israel exists. UKLFI also raised concerns about maps and descriptions that appeared to erase Israel’s existence and misrepresent Jewish historical and indigenous connections to the land.
However, as of Sunday, Britannica has amended several children’s entries, including those on Palestine, Israel, and Judaism.
One of the amendments was to the Palestine (Kids) entry, which has been revised to remove present-tense descriptions defining Palestine as the whole territory “between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.”
Britannica also amended maps so they no longer present the whole territory of Israel and the Palestinian areas as a single, undifferentiated region labelled “Palestine.” UKLFI argued that this visually erased Israel’s existence.
Misleading children's content
The Israel (Kids) entry formerly described Israel as part of a region called “Palestine,” even in modern contexts, but now clarifies the historical and political development of the State of Israel.
UKFLI highlighted the fact that the retroactive application of the term “Palestine” to periods thousands of years before the name existed creates a false impression of historical continuity and erases Jewish national identity from the historical record.
The previous entries told children that ancient Jewish kingdoms, biblical history, and the origins of Judaism all took place in “Palestine”, despite the fact that the regions in question were historically known as Canaan, Judea, Samaria, and the Galilee.
“We welcome the fact that Encyclopaedia Britannica has reviewed and amended aspects of its children’s content following our letter,” said UKLFI Director Caroline Turner.
“Educational resources for children carry a particular responsibility to be historically accurate and carefully framed, especially on highly politicised subjects. Terminology matters, and these changes are an important step in addressing material that risks misleading young readers.”
Israel’s foreign ministry celebrated the news, writing, “facts made a comeback. Encyclopaedia Britannica walked it back. To be honest, a rather pathetic failure by some ideologically driven employee.”
Israel’s embassy in the UK welcomed the removal of the map in particular, stating that it “presented a distorted version of reality to children” and was “outrageous[ly] misleading.”
“As an educational resource that aspires to be authoritative, Britannica must ensure rigorous accuracy, especially in content designed for young learners.”
“We welcome the removal of the outrageous, misleading map, but regret that corrective action was taken only after the issue became public,” it added.