Israel has blamed the Palestinian Authority of being "delusional" after it said it would take the United Kingdom to court over the Balfour Declaration -- a document from Nov. 2, 1917 expressing Britain’s support for the establishment of a Jewish national home in the land of Israel.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki has asked the Arab League for support in filing a law suit against the British government for publishing the Balfour Declaration a century ago,.

He was addressing the Arab League’s annual summit in Nouakchott, Mauritania. He asked for the body to “help us bring a suit against the British government”.

He said that following the Balfour Declaration of 1917, “hundreds of thousands of Jews arrived from Europe and other places in Palestine at the expense of our people”.

Al-Malki further claimed that alleged “Israeli crimes committed against our people since the end of the British Mandate, and the massacres that occurred in 1948 and after” are consequently Britain’s responsibility.

There was no response from the British government.

The Balfour Declaration was signed by then Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour in 1917, as a letter to Baron Walter Rothschild in which he declared the support of the British government for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in what was then the Ottoman-Turkish region of Palestine. The Balfour Declaration is considered to be a seminal document in the diplomatic process which led to the establishment of the British Mandate and ultimately the State of Israel.

It was seen as giving the Zionist movement official recognition and backing on the part of a major power.

The approval of the mandate by the Council of the League of Nations in 1922 gave the Balfour Declaration international validity, almost like the 1947 U.N. resolution to establish a Jewish state in part of the land of Israel.

Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan lambasted Abbas for Malki's speech, tweeting that it was "delusional," adding that "the overall direction it pointed at is not coincidental."

Erdan wrote: "The countdown has now officially begun toward the 100th anniversary of the declaration, and the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War. The leader of the Palestinians has long ago lost any interest in peace. Do not be surprised if the lawsuit will soon include France, because it was party to the Sykes-Picot Agreement that led to the partition of this region. It appears that all is fair in the campaign of incitement and libel Abbas has been waging."